Crush on a Champ
by Oh-no-she-di'ent
Summary: Lorelai gets a chance to peek into Luke's past a bit, and it creates interesting consequences. LL, takes place in S4 AU.... NO Nicole, NO Jason. Rated M.


_**Disclaimer:**_ No affiliation at all.

Hey Readers!! Long time, no write, I suppose. It's been a few months, but I'm here with another story for you guys. This is long overdue. I planned to have this out right behind WUiL, but I couldn't seem to get started on it. This story messes up my nice even 50 count, but I'll deal with it lol.

Lorelai and Luke make my world go round. CoaC focuses on the two of them and a crush that Lorelai develops. But it may not be what you think. This is S4, pre-hookup, and complete. Rated M for a brief scene with nudity and naughty things. Even though this is S4, Lorelai's inn is up. Cywen69 brought it to my attention once before how I tend to have that be the case in my S4 fics. A number of stories ago, I just stopped noting that AU part. Just made it my own reality haha. Sometimes I have her renovating, most times I have the Dragonfly open. Here, it's the latter ; ). Enjoy the read.

**Crush on a Champ**

"Guess what I have here!"

Luke dumped his armload of plates in the serving window at the diner. "Something to rot your guts out in all likelihood," he responded dourly. He turned back around and gathered more dirty plates and glasses from the countertop. The diner was officially closed for the evening.

Lorelai shook her head at his answer. She clutched a large brown bag. "Nope, not tonight. Guess again."

"I have a better idea," he said while stacking dishes in his hand. "Why don't you save us both some time and just tell me."

She frowned and then quickly shed her jacket with excitement. "Well, okay. Only because I know how much you suck at my guessing games."

"Name one person who doesn't."

"I do seem to come up with some awesome doozies, don't I?"

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled. "We can call them that."

Lorelai hopped up from her stool. "Well, I don't know how your day has been going so far, Mr. Danes, but I assure you it's about to get a whole lot better," she promised. She began to unfold the top of the bag while Luke carried more plates to the window. "You ready?" she asked as she reached inside.

"Hit me with it," he replied apathetically.

She removed her empty hand and dropped it to the surface. "I need more enthusiasm," she whined.

Luke sighed and rested against the countertop. "What do you want, a cheer?"

"It'd be nice."

"You want a cheer? Go to a Stars Hollow High football game. This is the best you're getting from me."

Lorelai jumped up and down with a sudden glee that startled Luke. "Ooh, ooh, that's kind of my surprise! You guessed it a little bit!"

"What'd I guess?" he asked bewildered.

She stuck both hands in the bag and pulled out videotape cassettes. "Tada! Now guess what these are!"

He rolled his eyes to her. "Let's not start with that again."

"Sorry, forgot."

"What are they?" He pointed to the tapes that she steadily pulled from the brown sack.

"Your past."

"_My_ past?"

"Yup." She displayed a grin as she spread the tapes neatly over the space. "This is you in a nutshell. Superstar. Butch Danes. Stars Hollow High track champion. Who wears short shorts?" She held up a random tape. "Luke Danes in his track and field get-up, that's who."

Luke snatched the tape from her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lorelai gestured toward the display. "I've volunteered to help organize the high school's Years of Jeers montage."

"That's a real thing?"

She shrugged. "Well, no. The name is mine. Apparently, they're taking this a _bit_ more seriously, so my snickers stood alone."

"Shocker."

"I know! It's really crazy." She sat back down. "But the high school is putting together a highlight reel of the past couple of decades. They're using all types of footage to add to the pot, mainly from school events. I thought it would be a fun thing to participate in, so I took the liberty of signing myself up."

"How do you know what the high school is doing? Your kid hasn't gone to that school in 3 years."

"Well, if you attended town meetings on a regular basis like you should--"

"I attend enough."

"--then you would be in on the hoopla too."

"That's exactly why I don't go to all of them. I have no desire to be in on anything involving _hoopla_."

She shook her head. "And look where that bah humbug attitude leaves you. You're so far out of the loop, running the Boston marathon wouldn't even put you close."

Luke rolled his eyes and shook the tape at her. "What does this have to do with me? I didn't give anybody permission to include me in any footage!"

Lorelai reached out and took the tape from him. She grinned. "Oh, dear Luke, it gets so much better."

"What?"

"You're not just included. You're starring." Frown lines appeared in familiar places across his face. "I never quite understood how big a deal you were at that school, but I'm starting to get a pretty good idea. When I heard that you were more or less going to be the face of your class, I had to step in."

"I hope you're about to say on my behalf!"

Lorelai scoffed and glanced at the multiple tapes. "Well, that would quickly suck the fun out of this whole conversation, now wouldn't it?"

"Should've known."

She smiled. "You're a star. You're a star of your entire graduating class, Luke. The biggest thing that happened to my graduating class was me, but that was all girth. Definitely not anything worth bragging about."

He sighed heavily, showing his impatience. "Am I on these tapes?"

"You're on the tapes," she stated proudly.

He stared at her. "Tell me this is some kind of a joke."

She shrugged. "It's a joke," she followed easily.

"Why are you _lying_?" he snapped.

"You just told me to!"

"Jeez," he grumbled.

Lorelai smiled a bit then made it vanish. She watched him. He didn't say anything further, but his jaw became increasingly tight. "Luke?" He looked up at her, far from pleased. "Um, are you like…grumpy and dissatisfied or angry and resentful?"

"What does it matter?" he asked. "You obviously don't care _which_ I am."

Her jaw dropped. "Oh my god. Why would you think I don't care? That hurts me!"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his rag. "Spare me."

"Okay, seriously, are you trying to make me cry, Georgie Porgie? You can't think I want to see you get upset over this."

"Seems like it to me," he responded casually.

"You know what I wanted to come out of this? You know what I wanted more than anything, Mr. Sensitivity? All I wanted was a nice hearty rant. With it, would have come my satisfaction. It would have made this whole thing worth it. Because you know what? I'm sacrificing a lot of my free time doing this. For _you_! Where's my thank you, huh?"

Luke tossed the rag back under the countertop without even using it. He regarded Lorelai with subdued emotion like she hadn't just struck his main nerve. "You think I should be thanking you?"

She crossed her arms. "Well, yeah."

"For doing something that I didn't know was going to be done and don't _want_ to be done, you want me to _thank_ you?"

She shrugged carelessly. "Too much?" Luke's disposition remained, even when he saw her emerging smile. She got serious but kept her expression. "I want the grumpy and dissatisfied Luke," she admitted quietly. "Please don't be angry. This is too stupid for you to be angry."

"I agree. It is stupid, which is exactly why I don't want to be a part of it." The bell over the door chimed, and Luke looked up at the late night customer while Lorelai looked over her shoulder. "We're closed," he announced.

"Oh." The man, surprised at the news, began backing out but chose to share his assumption. "I thought you were still open because she…" He gestured at Lorelai, "…is still sitting here after--"

"No, sorry, we're closed," Luke reiterated. He rounded the counter. "Come back tomorrow." He allowed the man to clear the doorway before he promptly secured the door and locked up.

"Only room enough for one diner owner's pet, and the position is taken, huh Luke?" Lorelai boasted.

"Sure."

Lorelai clapped and danced in place. "I get special privileges," she sang.

Luke shook his head tiredly as he returned behind the counter. "Not like you'd actually leave if I told you to."

"True story."

He returned to his previous spot and dropped his hands to the counter. "Do you hate me?"

"Not usually," she answered playfully.

He ignored her. "It's bad enough they're putting me in this, but I thought you and I were…I don't know, friends or something."

Lorelai chuckled at the caution he displayed. She cocked her head and gave him a warm look. "Luke, we _are_ friends," she assured.

"Then, why did you agree to do this?" he bellowed. "You had to know I would hate this!"

"Well, I figured you'd hate it, yeah. But in a good way. You know, the funny way." She pointed at him. "Like now. This is funny."

"What's funny about this? I'm pissed!"

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're not," she revealed in nonchalance. He stared blankly. "This is the beginning part of your rant." She jutted her chin to the small amount of liquid in the coffee pot. "I'll take that off your hands," she added before jumping back into her placation. "Once you start to really show a reaction, I know the difference." She nodded with approval. "This is good. Continue."

Luke glowered at her for a second longer before he mindlessly filled her request. As he watched her bring the mug to her lips, he sighed. "So glad to know that I amuse you."

"I'm glad, too. Good humor is rare these days. Quite the quandary for a slapsticker like myself."

"I expect this crap from Taylor." He snatched up his rag again. "But not you, Judas."

"What exactly is your problem with this? Do you know how much I'd give to be idolized at my old school instead of ostracized? This really is a cool thing, Luke. Are you not at least a little honored by it?"

"Nope."

She began to stack the tapes back inside the bag while shaking her head. "Well, I'm honored _for_ you, how about that? I'll admit that when I thought of your reaction to all of this, it pushed me into it. But there's another way to look at this. Hundreds of kids will be in these tapes getting passed by so fast you probably won't even get to see their faces, but they think enough of you to give you an entire segment. Your mug will be remembered, my friend. And it's my job to go through all these tapes and give them something good to use. Some geeky little production guys who you don't even know aren't going to be the ones in charge of your legacy." She dropped the last tape in the bag and looked up at him. "I am. And though I'll probably laugh my ass off during every minute of this, I'm not going to let you down, Luke. Even you'll be proud of the outcome."

"I don't care if I come out looking like the Great Bambino, I don't want to be included in this thing," he stated obstinately.

Lorelai lifted her coffee cup to her lips. "Well, that's not my call. I am but a humble, gloating servant."

"What's on the damn tapes?" he asked curtly.

"I told you already. You. Hours and hours of you."

"What _specifically_ is on the tapes?" he asked slower.

"Oh." She took a long swig of her coffee, not minding the frustrated man standing in front of her. "The majority of them came from the school so they have meets and things, I'm assuming. But I did get a few from townies. Just candid taping. Shower scenes, you know that sort of thing."

"What townies?" he snarled.

"Classmates of yours. Taylor did the gathering, so unfortunately I can't rat anyone out. That's probably best anyway because I'm not in a hurry to become familiar with that 'snitches get stitches' thing." He nodded with disinterest. Lorelai stood up and moved to the donut case. "Are you starting to not mind this whole thing so much? Maybe, sorta?"

Luke watched as she placed a chocolate sprinkled donut on a napkin. "I will never not mind stuff like this. It makes me want to rent a U-Haul truck and get the hell out of this place every single time," he responded. "It's a wonder why I'm still here." He stepped over to the case when Lorelai was going in for a third one. "Why don't you just see how those two go first," he suggested airily.

She smiled and took her seat again. "Any chance I could get a cheeseburger?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'd have to turn the grill back on."

"That's one hell of a foreplay image."

He got his rag again and this time, quickly dragged it across the counter. "Have you eaten anything?"

She shook her head as she bit into her donut. "No dinner. Just snacked on some things at the inn," she answered.

He was quiet for a moment as he worked. "Give me a minute and I'll fire it back up."

Her smile widened as she followed his downcast eyes down the counter. "I was kidding about the burger, Luke. You know, it's no fun bugging you if you're going to give in this easily."

He stopped and looked at her. "So, you have eaten?"

She glanced at the donuts. "I'm eating now."

"Something that isn't junk," he restated. "Have you had dinner?"

She tilted her head at him, already aware where the conversation was going. "Luke. The diner is closed," she said softly. "I really was just--"

He headed into the back. "No fries. The fryer's off, and I'm not turning that back on for a plate of fries. If you want a side, you can have salad," he yelled back at her.

She bit her lip and watched with a shy smile as he disappeared. When he came back a minute later, she looked up and cleared her throat, having found all her bearings. "Thanks for that," she said with a light shrug.

"Yeah, no problem." He sighed and looked around at what still needed to be done. "So, when are you going to get started on this?"

"My Luke project?"

"Don't call it that," he said instantly.

"I'm going to get started on my Luke project as soon as I can. I have a lot of material to go through." She clasped her hands. "I'm kind of excited."

He frowned. "For what?"

She grinned. "It might be fun. Wouldn't you be excited if you got a chance to see a high school tape of me?"

He rolled his eyes away and started walking around the counter. "I'd be completely beside myself," he deadpanned.

"You want to come over and watch some of it with me? I'm sure it's been ages since you've seen the stuff."

Now in the dining area, he began cleaning the tables that he'd skipped over earlier due to occupancy. "It's been longer than that. I've never seen any of it."

"Really?"

"Yep. And I definitely don't want to start now. So, I'll pass."

"You sure? You'll miss out on all your reminiscing moments," she wheedled.

He nodded. "Thanks for locking my decision in even more for me."

She smiled. "Drats."

He finished cleaning quickly and started flipping chairs onto the tabletops. "Just do me a favor and don't go making it a big event with Sookie, Rory or any of your other mocking buddies."

She gave an innocent look. "What'd make you think I'd do such a thing?" He paused and eyed her. She giggled and spun around playfully on her stool. "You know me too well, Danes."

"Tell me about it."

She popped the last of her donut in her mouth and pointed to the case. "Plate's clean!" she announced. "May I have another?"

Luke stopped flipping chairs halfway through and walked toward the kitchen to check on the grill's temperature. "You can't wait ten minutes for your burger?"

"Patience. Such a foreign concept."

"Well, get acquainted with it. No more dessert until you've eaten your dinner," he asserted.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"How long again?"

"Ten minutes."

She looked at her watch. "Lifetime."

"You'll be fine." He disappeared into the kitchen.

"Well, I'm going to _at least_ get more coffee!" she yelled after him.

"Whatever."

"There's no more in the pot. I'm gonna have to make some," she announced. She winced as she waited on his backlash.

"Long as you don't expect me to do it," he yelled back.

She smiled and hopped off her stool. "Getting off the stool, boss!"

"Mmhm."

"Coming around the counter, boss."

"Mmhm."

"Reaching for the basket, boss."

"Alright."

"Looking for the coffee grinds, boss."

"Lorelai, will you just make the damn coffee!"

She laughed quietly to herself. She was unyielding in her treatment of him as Boss Godfrey. Last thing she wanted was to get shot in the ass for making an unauthorized move. "Making the damn coffee, boss!"

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The next night.

Lorelai rested on her side. Stretched out on the sofa, hand propped under her head. Her once full bowl of cheese doodles now only contained a few. She tediously watched the television. Three hours had passed since she started watching the tapes lent to her.

With a glance at the clock below the screen, she determined that it was now eight minutes 'til eleven pm. When a shot rang out onscreen, the race started, and Lorelai's eyes went back to the TV. Unfortunately, she'd discovered that not all of the taping featured Luke. In fact, most of what she'd viewed showcased everyone but him, it seemed.

Just as she began to feel complete regret at volunteering for the cumbersome task, at two hours in, she saw him in a relay race. Happy to finally see him on the tape, she made no mental or verbal jabs at his uniform. Part of that had to do with her seeing his teammates in the same laughable ensemble for so long. His hair was short. Cropped up and wet like he'd already been actively sweating. He looked incredibly young. About 14 or 15, she decided. He was skinny but had muscles forming like he was familiarizing himself with weightlifting.

Lorelai quickly noted the timing position in the tape. She realized that there might be no opportunity to pick and choose which footage to use. If his appearances remained so spasmodic, she'd have no choice but mark all of his on air time. After recording the information, she lowered her pen and watched closely as Luke tarried at his starting mark waiting for the baton to be passed to him. Once secure in his hand, he took off in a third place position. Halfway around the track, he overcame the second runner and started gaining on the first. He was never able to catch up, though, and the race ended with him in second place.

After waiting two hours for that payoff, Lorelai was more than a little disappointed when the camera quickly zipped along to the last racers crossing the finish line. She waited in vain for them to take the camera back to him. When they finally went back to the front of the line, he was no longer there. That ended with a farcical pout, and she unthinkingly retrieved the remote and rewound the tape to his advent.

Twice more, she did it while offering more of her attention each time. With hours to go on the first tape, and nearly half a dozen more to sit through, she didn't know when she'd see him again, so she clung to that moment of success.

As she lay on the couch with three plus hours in the hole, that remained her only high point.

Her jaded, half-closed eyes followed the stranger kids all the way around the track as they finished the race. There was celebration on the screen.

"What was I thinking with this?" she said aloud to no one. "This is booooring!" She lifted the remote to the television and fast-forwarded at the lowest speed. "Where are you, Luke? Damn it." She hit the button again and saw the figures pick up speed as they rushed on and off screen. Initially, she had every intention of looking at each minute of the videos, but that was also when she thought Luke would be represented more sufficiently.

Lorelai erected herself on the sofa and placed both feet on the floor. She rested her elbows on her knees as she watched the screen closely for a while. With a grumble, she hit PLAY. The low quality video made the fuzziness even worse when in fast-forward. Not wanting to miss anything important, she submitted to her fate.

A race was already in progress, and Lorelai frowned as she thought of more interesting things that could be on her TV screen at that very moment. Things that would actually have her engrossed.

Out of the line of gangly racers came one that looked familiar. Lorelai squinted in an attempt to see a face. And then the announcer broadcasted the racer's advance, calling him by name. Luke Danes. She scrambled for the remote control and quickly rewound the tape back to the beginning of the race. "Perfect. Watch 50 hours of useless tape," she began with exaggeration, "and fast-forward through 30 seconds and miss something huge. Just my luck."

When Luke and all other racers were back on the starting line, Lorelai played the tape and slid up a little on the sofa so she could see the screen even better. Luke swung his arms back and forth, bent each leg for several seconds, and swung his arms some more. He stared at the ground intently then leaned low and prepared for the signal. When it came, racers shot up. Lorelai moved to the floor and leaned on the coffee table.

Luke was fast.

Lorelai didn't know much about track, but it wasn't hard to see why he was Stars Hollow High's golden boy. He took the lead and kept it. Made it seem effortless. All the other boys may as well have been 40-year-old asthmatic smokers.

His part was over too fast, and Lorelai repeated her earlier move by rewinding his segment.

By the fifth time, she smiled as she watched his starting line warm-up. Even as a young teen, he seemed so serious. All the other boys had the same face on, but Lorelai was sure that as soon as the race was over that day and others, they were goofing around and tripping one another in hallways. None of them could possibly be as consistent as the one they called Butch.

Finally, she let the tape play out past the end of the race, and she watched him disappear from sight yet again. She watched forty-five more minutes of tape before deciding to call it a night. She flipped the television off and trudged up the stairs with the time approaching midnight.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Luke, I can't begin to tell you how mind-numbing this whole process is. It's like torture. Who would choose such a boring sport to excel at?" Lorelai complained as she drank her morning coffee in the diner.

Luke's voice was low. "Well, I have a great suggestion for all that tedium. I'll even give you a hint at what it is. It starts with _burn the damn tapes and tell Taylor to go to hell_."

She clutched her mug and watched him work. "I could never do that. Your legacy would be lost."

He stopped and looked her dead in the eyes. "So?" he asked seriously.

She smiled. "_So_, that's not an option," she answered. He rolled his eyes and started moving again. Lorelai went on. "I just thought that I'd see more of you, you know? These tapes barely have you on them. I didn't sign up for this to watch pimply faced brats that I don't know running around in circles. I signed up for this so that I could see a _familiar_ pimply faced brat running in circles. So far, it's not going to plan."

"How many tapes have you watched?" he asked in curiosity.

"Just one."

Again, he stopped. "Didn't you have half a dozen laid out on this counter two nights ago?" She nodded breezily. He stared at her as quiet passed between them. "So, why are you complaining when you haven't even put a dent in the set?" he questioned guilefully.

Lorelai shrugged her shoulders and took another sip from her mug. "Honestly, how much better can it get?"

"Well, I'm sure it--"

"Bacon platter for here," announced Bootsie.

Luke paused and eyed the man who had just claimed a stool. He refrained from speaking the thoughts—the very bad thoughts—that formed the instant he had chosen to rudely interrupt a conversation. He reminded himself that he was at work. Running a diner. And talking to Lorelai obviously wasn't his number one duty. Even though he was sure his longtime foe had full knowledge of the strife he was causing, Luke chose to move past it.

"Something to drink with that?" he asked in a lackluster manner.

"Coffee for now, orange juice when my food is ready. Make the coffee decaf, two creamers, two sugars. And try not to be so stingy with the bacon this time, will ya?"

Luke ripped off the slip where he'd written his food order. He turned and stuck it in the window, then grabbed a mug and the coffee pot. "Here's your coffee." He pointed to a couple of containers near him. "And unless you've become handicapped, you can prepare it yourself."

He turned back to Lorelai when Bootsie grudgingly obeyed.

He took in her wide doe eyes, which she took the liberty of blinking repeatedly. "Now, what do _you_ want?" he asked gruffly.

"Does this mean you're not going to fix my coffee anymore either?"

Luke ignored Bootsie's indignant snort. He even ignored Lorelai's words as he rolled his eyes and began to fill mugs. He didn't need to comment. It was proven daily how lots of his rules didn't necessarily apply to her.

"All throughout high school, it seemed I always had a camera or a camcorder shoved in my face," he began casually. "Not much I can do about your boredom, but I can guarantee you'll get sick of seeing my face on those tapes soon enough."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Because it really doesn't seem like it," she added.

"Well, hang in there."

"I'll be going at it again when I get off work tonight. I don't think I can handle a repeat of last night."

"Probably won't have to."

She nodded and watched as he carried two loaded plates of food to a couple at the end of the counter. "I did see you in a couple of races," she mentioned when he was closer.

"Oh?" He retrieved his rag and wiped up a spill on and around the coffee machine.

"Yeah." Seconds passed. "You didn't look too bad." He looked over his shoulder at her. "In the race, I mean," she added. "You didn't look too bad _in the race_," she presented fully. "You were like a jackrabbit." He nodded and turned back.

"Thanks. I think."

She smiled. Conversation that wasn't theirs filled that pause. "So, it's going to get better, you say? More you?"

He smiled a little while still facing away from her. "Yeah, more me," he answered.

"I'm going to trust that you know what you're talking about."

He returned the rag under the countertop. "Well, if I'm wrong, you know where to find me. I'm sure I'll hear about it."

"Damn skippy."

He noticed the low level of liquid in her mug. "More coffee?"

She nodded. He poured. She looked longingly into the cup then back into his face. "Where's my additives?" she asked with sad eyes.

Bootsie slid the half-and-half and sugar her way. "Self-serve, Toots."

Luke shoved the bowls back in his direction fast. Without a word, he added creamer from a carton to her mug, stirred it, gave Bootsie a contemptible glare and trotted off to attend to the rest of his customers. Never mind that he normally prepared her coffee in that fashion. At that moment, he did it only to piss Bootsie off. He didn't like him one bit, and he definitely didn't appreciate him addressing Lorelai the way he did. _Toots_. Who in the hell did he think she was? Some trollop?

Bootsie shook his head. "Asshole," he muttered to Luke's retreating back.

Lorelai took a small sip and turned to look at him. "I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. He's many different things, I'll admit. But asshole doesn't work at all."

He stared at her in disbelief for a moment before shrugging it off. "Okay, fine. What about jerk?" he offered. "He's definitely that."

She pretended to consider that. "No…that doesn't work either. Sorry."

"How about loser?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "_Definitely_ not."

"Son-of-a--?"

"No, no," she interrupted. "You're only getting colder. And let's leave his mom out of this."

He gave up. Gave her his full attention. "Then, what _does_ work in your opinion?"

She scoffed. "What, you think I'm gonna _help_ you insult a good friend of mine? What kind of asshole-loser-jerk-sonofa would expect that to happen? Jeez."

He turned away. "Well, I definitely should've seen that one coming."

She smiled. "That was fun. Let me know if you want to go another round!"

Bootsie sighed and drank his coffee silently.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The following day Lorelai curled up on her sofa with snacks galore. She aimed the remote control at the TV and powered it on. She had the day off and was prepared to spend the majority of that day in front of her VCR, all while maintaining hope that she'd see enough of Luke onscreen to stay interested.

She'd managed to finish the first tape the night before, and it ended up being just as disappointing as she'd previously thought it to be.

She was now on number two. As the tape started and Lorelai watched the camera operator pan the large field, she popped some caramel corn in her mouth. "On the look-out for a lot more you, Luke. Don't let me down here."

Much to Lorelai's delight, Luke was seen in the very first event displayed. Following that, she found better tolerance and patience as she watched others. Much more than she'd had previously.

Time flew in some areas and crawled in others. Still, she remained upright and focused as the day wore on. When she got to tape number three, Lorelai realized two things. First, Luke's puberty years were very nearly recorded the entire way through. As she watched him perform, she saw changes in his height, weight, muscle mass, and facial features. He went from a scrawny kid to a young man. Got so handsome and strong. She figured that Patty had to begin taking notice of him somewhere around age 16. Though she could imagine the actual lewdness didn't begin until he was on the legal side of things. It took a while for realization to dawn on the second point, but when it occurred to her, she felt the inevitability given the excessive viewing. Track and field wasn't at all hard to follow. And surprisingly, wasn't as dull once she gained understanding of the events.

She waited for Luke's appearances. As was her duty, as well as her pleasure. But she scribbled down names that kept popping up and found herself rooting for the stranger kids when Luke wasn't in the picture. She saw plenty of talent that led to lots of wins.

But Luke remained the best. He got faster. As the years passed on the tapes, along with his facial and bodily developments came an insane increase in skill.

Lorelai ignored the physical part of him. Any woman with eyes could see that appeal. And she knew him far too well to drool over him like a groupie, so it was, indeed, the wisest decision.

She was drawn to his determination, which repeatedly seemed to get the job done. So serious. He remained serious. Never broke that. Not as the pimply faced competitor and definitely not as the seasoned upperclassman.

When Lorelai glanced over to the clock, she was surprised to see the time approaching 2am. She realized she'd missed not only her bedtime, but dinner as well. Oreos, Hawaiian Punch, and Goldfish crackers had been her dinner. She had intended to drop by the diner. Had even told Luke earlier in the day that she'd see him that night.

With a sigh, she stopped the tape and climbed from the sofa.

She wondered idly if Luke had even noticed her absence.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai stepped inside of the diner and closed the door. She surveyed the crowded room and whimpered at her possible wait for caffeine.

"Excuse me. Pardon me," she muttered tiredly while squeezing past bodies. "Luke!" she called though she couldn't see him anywhere. "Luke, where are you? This is important!" He came from the back at that very moment carrying several sleeves of coffee cups. He spotted Lorelai who had made her way to the end of the counter.

"Hey. What's up?" he asked casually.

"There you are!" she exclaimed with relief. "I have an emergency."

He shoved the sleeves under the counter one by one while giving her as much of his attention as he could. "What kind of an emergency?" He paused. "And this better not have anything to do with coffee," he warned suddenly.

Lorelai froze in thought. Luke rolled his eyes away. "Ever heard of the kid who cried wolf?"

"Who's crying wolf?" she shrieked. She pointed to herself. "You're looking at someone trying to function off of five hours of sleep here. If I don't get coffee soon, this whole conscious thing won't have much reason to stick around."

Luke shook his head. He filled a couple of those coffee cups, passed them off to waiting customers, then grabbed his order pad. He listened to a few people rattle off breakfast orders. When done, he yelled over to Lorelai while moving on to another task. "Busy night?"

"Yeah, you can say that. Time kind of slipped away from me."

He nodded. "You didn't come in for dinner," he commented.

She smiled at that. Leaned in so her soft words would make their way over to him. She spoke as if there was need for an apology. "I know. Like I said, time just slipped away from me, you know?" She eyed the coffee pot longingly and sacrificed all thoughts to her pressing need. "How about that coffee now?" she asked desperately. She ignored the stares from customers who had been waiting for minutes more than she had.

"Gotta wait a sec," he responded to her dismay.

She sighed. Felt so much more of her energy drain away at those simple words. "Just please hurry, okay? I'm like a zombie over here."

He nodded. When he grabbed the pot and hurried past Lorelai into the dining room, she had to summon all control in order to keep from wrestling the pot from his fingers and guzzling it from the source. She watched the line of customers at the counter as each of them happily and almost mockingly sipped from their mugs. Her patience had to be renewed several times in the minute that Luke was gone. When he returned to his area, she followed him with hopeful eyes.

"Excuse me, when are my wife and I going to get our food over here? We don't plan to be here all day," a customer complained.

Luke barely acknowledged him. "I guess that works out well, then because I don't want to see you here all day."

"What did he just say?" the man asked a neighbor in disbelief.

Lorelai smiled and then dismissed the man who was trying to get his wife to stand up so they could storm out together. She, unfortunately, had begun a love affair with Luke's coffee, so it was definitely not going to end in his favor. That brought Lorelai back to her lack of that heavenly brew.

"Luke," she called meekly.

"Zombie, I know. Heard you the first time." He glanced at her before grabbing a rag and wiping up a mess on the counter. "It's coming." He dropped the rag and went to get several plates of food from the order window. The upset customer finally received his and seemed mildly satisfied. "Did you want some breakfast?" he yelled over to Lorelai.

"Um, I haven't ordered yet," another customer interjected. "I was here first."

"So was I!" said someone else.

"We all were," came another voice who spoke for everyone who was there before Lorelai entered.

Lorelai offered an apologetic smile. She gestured toward them all. "They're right. It's okay, I'm on my way to the inn, so I'll grab something there." Again, she looked at the coffee pot. That was something that definitely couldn't be substituted.

"You sure?" he asked as if no one had spoken except for her.

She nodded. "Yeah. But uh…" She pointed to the coffee machine. "Can you please?" She brought her attention away from Luke and to all the evil looks around her. "I'm sorry, guys. Really, I am. But this is so important, you see. I don't mean to come off rude…though the look I see in each one your faces highlights the contradiction there. But listen, normally I'm a really nice, wait-her-turn type of girl. It's just that--"

"Nice, I'll give you. But _wait-her-turn_ type of girl? Surely, you jest." Lorelai turned to Luke suddenly and saw him holding out a large cup of to-go coffee. She sighed graciously and opened her mouth to speak. He cut her off. "Just take it and go. Before the mutiny starts," he warned with a nod toward the staring customers.

She smiled and took the cup. "Add it to my tab?"

Luke turned away. "The one that doesn't exist? Sure thing."

She held that elixir close to her chest as she took in the scent. As she stepped away from the overcrowded counter, she called out to him. "You've still got those wings, baby."

He tossed up his hand as if waving her away. She smiled more, turned to leave, but stopped at his voice. "Try not to have another busy night tonight." She peered around people, and when she finally stole a glimpse of Luke, his eyes were on his pad. She looked at him long enough for his eyes to finally flash to her. "Only if you can help it," he added with indifference.

He looked away before she could read anything in his expression. The crowd closed in and blocked her view of him. And then she was just left standing in the way.

She clutched her cup further and left the diner with a bemused smile on her lips.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai picked sprinkles from her chocolate donut and popped them into her mouth absently. Luke's cheeseburger with extra french fries had been filling, but it definitely didn't discourage her from enjoying her ready-made dessert.

'_I hope everyone has their girly parts concealed!' the guy on the screen exclaimed to the locker room full of males._

'_Man, what are you doing? Get outta here with that thing!'_

'_Oh, my god!' _

_Laughter. 'That's right, ladies! Show me what ya got!' Boys scurried around the locker room half-naked, trying to cover themselves the best they could. The boy behind the camcorder turned it on himself. 'Time to score some blackmail!' he declared. The lens went from the ceiling to the floor and then in and out of focus on the other boys' faces as he worked to get the huge piece of equipment situated on his shoulder. When it was, he whooped and started walking through the room. 'Oooohhh, no, don't run away, guys! Where ya going? Sam? Adam? AJ? Come on, guys, come back. You're going to ruin all the fun!'_

_All of the guys laughed non-stop while yelling threats toward the one with the cam. Most wore towels around their waists. Some still had on their baseball uniform. And a few of them were already changed into their normal clothes. _

Lorelai felt cheated that none were naked. That would have absolutely made her day. Hilarity overload. She still found appreciation in watching them scurry around trying to avoid being on tape. Most were shirtless and had sharp abs that could make a young girl forget her religion if she wasn't careful. All that adolescent eye candy still couldn't keep Lorelai from focusing solely on their misfortune.

'_Do I know how to clear a locker room or what?'_

'_Paul, put that thing down, you asshole.'_

_He whirled around toward the voice. 'I will if you show me a little leg first,' he teased. He started moving toward the guy who'd spoken._

'_What's going on out here?' came a deeper male voice._

'_Oh shit, it's Coach. Help me turn this off!' The lens went lower and showed several pairs of legs that rushed over to help him hide the camcorder from whoever was about to bust the teen with it. Laughter and mockery were all that could be heard before the picture went off._

_Seconds later, it came back on, and there was loud talking all around. The same boys sat around but this time, they were all in uniform. Judging by their sweaty faces and joyful noise, they had already played a good game. _

'_Give a hand to Rah Rah Raj over here. Pitched the best game of his barely there career. Three cheers!'_

_The boy named Raj shook his head as hands reached out and slapped his shoulder, tousled his hair, and threw towels at him. 'Barely there career huh?'_

_Laughter rang out. Shouts of teasing affirmation overshadowed it. 'We'll see how barely there my career is when I'm carrying this team next year!' he swanked over the increasing noise. More hands reached in but this time there were playful but brutal hits that made him curl up then bolt away from the abuse. Some guys chased him. The camera followed the mayhem for only a moment before the lens swung back around to those who had chosen to remain in place._

'_There goes our cocky little sophomore pitcher. Off to take his nap after being invited to play with the big boys.'_

_Laughter. Raj ran back into the shot and pretended to fight off the group of guys who all squared off against him. Minutes were lost as the guys battled like children heavily into Mortal Kombat._

Lorelai licked the sweet chocolate from her fingers and looked into her bag at the two remaining donuts. She pushed it aside and turned back to the screen. She wouldn't eat them right away. She decided to show restraint by waiting fifteen or twenty minutes instead.

'_I guess we have to get used to the kid,' one guy joshed._

'_He's our only hope!' another wailed much to the hilarity of everyone else._

'_Yeah. Since…' The camera spun around and around. 'Where is he? Where's Butch?'_

Lorelai perked up. She'd been watching and enjoying the show between the guys, none of whom looked familiar. Quite simply, she was entertained and very happy that she had not given up on the tapes after the initial days of viewing what had to be the most boring display of athletics known to man.

Though the exchanges on screen kept her attention well, when she heard Luke's name called, Lorelai immediately grew anxious. She waited for the moment when the camera would stop spinning about and finally land on the one face she knew well.

More time was wasted as the camera bearer failed to pinpoint his target.

'_Right here, Paul,' came a voice that sounded almost as impatient as Lorelai felt. The camera came to rest on a face that made the old timey resolution of the tape light up like HDTV. The eyes—those gorgeous grayish blue eyes—on that face rolled in an all-too-familiar fashion. It's what made Lorelai finally blink. Finally breathe. Finally smile using lips that were far apart in an expression that might have depicted astonishment. The face was recognizable. The same, really. Same jaw line, same set of his lips. Same scowl. Almost like he had come from the womb scowling. He was without scruff, though. His face looked softer than a baby's bottom and his skin showed no age. He looked untouched. Pure. Except for his eyes. They held depth and pain and maturity that the boys in his company wouldn't understand for years to come._

She knew that face. Certainly knew that eye roll. She made herself relax. Took a breath on demand and calmed herself. She cleared her throat and summed all skittering thoughts up to a tamely uttered, "Pretty."

_Luke stared into the lens then. Like that unacceptable term had made its way through to him somehow. Lorelai actually froze at the freakiness of that moment. She stared at Luke, and he looked back at her intensely._

_And then._

'_Get that out of my face, Paul.'_

'_Here's Butch!'_

'_Get that camera out of my face, Paul.'_

Lorelai watched him drop his head and lean low to do something. When one second too many ticked away without Paul following his actions, Lorelai sighed indignantly and instructed him to stop being a half-assed cinematographer and to follow his subject. He followed that order promptly as if he could hear her, as Luke had seemed to be able to do just moments before.

_Luke was undoing his cleats. Paul kept the camera there and talked to him, all while getting nothing in return. The other guys, by then, had picked up a couple of their own conversations. _

'_Since Butch, here, is graduating in a few months and leaving us high and dry, we're forced to rely on Rah Rah Raj,' he mocked to a distracted Luke._

_Luke sat up, and Lorelai's eyes widened as she watched him once again light up the screen with that face. On the track, there were no close-ups. And now, there were. Close-ups were definitely Luke's friend. She wondered idly how many times she would rewind this unusable portion of tape. There would no doubt be a record set._

'_Roger's a good pitcher,' he said with none of the frivolity that every other person in the room seemed to be in excess of._

'_Rah Rah Raj is a sophomore. That's all he is, and that's all he'll ever be,' countered Paul._

_Luke pulled at his jersey, loosening it from his pants. Lorelai's eyes went to his hands. She wondered if she should turn away if he started stripping. She knew she wouldn't._

'_All he'll ever be is a sophomore…until next year when he's a junior,' Luke pointed out in a deadpan._

_Paul seemed unfazed. He spun the camera away from Luke. Lorelai felt immediate annoyance with him. 'But for now…' he called out, gaining everyone's attention, 'He's a soft, young sophomore.' He found the person he was searching for. 'Isn't that right, Rah Rah Raj?'_

'_You're only a year older than me, you know.'_

'_Like dog years in maturity, young Rah Rah.' He moved closer. 'See, Raj goes steady with young cheerleader…Laura, is it? And he evens helps her with her cheers. Isn't that right, RAH RAH Raj?'_

_Ooh lalas rang out. Roger smiled, choosing not to be moved by the good-natured ridicule. 'When Young Raj here really comes of age, he'll realize that SH's baseball team runs this school!' Cheers. 'And guys like us can't afford to be tied down to one Betty. The sooner he learns that, the better off he'll be.' He turned around and focused the camera on Luke once again. _

Lorelai smiled involuntarily.

'_Please, please, please do not be like Butch here, Young Rah Rah.' The laughter in the room turned gentler and more genial as each turned focus on the guy up for discussion. They each seemed to know that the normal buffoonery wasn't near the best way to get Luke to join in their fun. _

_Luke was on the bench now, still in his uniform bottoms but donned in a ruffled white T-shirt. He rested on his knees while watching silently as they teased the younger varsity guy._

_Paul neared him with the camera, ignoring the deadly look he gave him. 'Do you have any idea how many times I have begged for this guy right here to be my wingman? Girls are crazy about this guy!' Whistles and catcalls made Luke shake his head and lower it. Paul spoke again. 'I have gotten dates…simply because I know him!'_

'_Me too!'_

'_Guilty of that one myself!'_

_Boisterous laughter that time._

_Paul finally simmered from his own amusement. 'And god only knows the kind of action we'd see if he actually gave in to even half of the offers. Just imagine the possibilities!' _

'_Do you think you can wrap up story time and get that damn camera out of my face?' Luke snapped._

'_Rachel!' Paul blurted out in direct dismissal of his words. 'Rachel Garrett has the most eligible bachelor on this team wrapped around her finger like Chinese handcuffs.'_

'_Paul.' Luke didn't look upset, but he definitely didn't appear ready to join in the games either. 'I'm warning you,' he told him with a simple brow lift._

'_Rachel is definitely top quality. Don't get me wrong. Gorg-e-o-u-s. But Butch, even if you don't go after another girl ever in life, for the sake of men everywhere, before you graduate and leave us all with Rookie Raj to fill your shoes, you HAVE to hook up with Carrie Duncan.'_

_The other males chimed in right then with honest and real beseeching. Carrie would have none of them, though they all lusted after her. It was widely known that she wanted no one other than the one they called Butch. She was even developing the nickname Crazy Carrie due to her effort and persistence in trapping and seducing him._

_Luke looked on without impress. Sure Carrie was gorgeous beyond understanding, but that was it. She possessed not one other quality he found inspiring. And though he couldn't stifle all the hormones in that gorgeous eighteen-year-old body of his, those other qualities made or broke his attractions. Besides, betraying Rachel just wasn't an option. He dashed hopes and stomped out dreams with his casual response of 'when fish climb trees'._

The corners of Lorelai's mouth turned up as she listened to all of the sorrowful pleas for a change of heart.

_Luke lowered his head into his hands for a moment. When he brought it back up a short time later, there were traces of a smile. The other guys found joy in getting that small reaction from him. They kept pushing until that smile got wider and wider. Finally, it went into the full-on devastating stage._

Lorelai scrambled for the remote and paused the video. His face and that smile were all that could be seen. She chose to ignore the thoughts that told her to look at herself from an outsider's standpoint. The way she stared at the screen like she was being forced to memorize and re-create. She searched for flaws and only found deeper entrancement when she kept coming up empty. After five minutes, the video began to play again on its own.

_Just like that, Luke's smile was gone and he was physically turning Paul and the camera away. Luke didn't come back into view, and what Paul chose to take interest in didn't compare at all in Lorelai's eyes. Three or four chiseled guys with strong backs and heartthrob smiles dropped to the floor and decided to engage in a push-up contest. _

Lorelai watched distractedly for a few minutes before she reached for her cordless phone. Even after taking quick note of the time, she dialed her intended number anyway. It rang three times.

"Hello?" The voice sounded worried, groggy, and impatient.

Lorelai suddenly felt regretful for the disturbance. Still, she chirped, "Morning, Luke!"

His voice moved over toward a whisper so the sleepy roughness wouldn't be there quite as much. "Lorelai?" he asked with surprise. She heard fumbling and assumed he was reaching onto a nightstand. "Is something wrong? It's…three in the morning," he pointed out.

"No, nothing's wrong," she assured. She smiled. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

There was a long pause, and she held her breath and waited for the explosion she knew was coming. She could just see the expression he wore. However, when she heard him sigh, she relaxed, both relieved and disappointed that he wasn't about to go off on a rant. "This better be good," he said with eerie calmness.

"Whoa. Lots of pressure here, but I'm up for the challenge." She adjusted herself on the sofa and stared ahead at the TV. "Why didn't you tell me that you played baseball?" she asked him.

Luke's sleepy eyes widened in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Baseball, Luke. I never knew you played baseball. Were you hiding the sport where you actually wore a uniform with acceptable body coverage?"

He gritted his teeth and pressed two fingers into his eyes. "You have got to be kidding me right now."

"Why would I be kidding? This is serious. I just saw a guy who looked an awfully lot like you, and without any knowledge of your baseball past, I may be inclined to believe that there are two of you running around in the world which would lead me to wonder what your other half could be up to. You run a diner, which caters to me so what if the other one of you runs a Hello Kitty novelty shop or a Cold Stone Creamery or a piece of Burberry heaven somewhere? That's really not fair to me. I should have full access to this doublemint life of the Danes clan."

Luke shook his head like he should expect nothing less from Lorelai Gilmore at three a.m. "My diner does not _cater_ to you," he snipped.

"Do you or do you not have a twin?"

"Lorelai, I'm going back to sleep. Goodnight."

"Wait!" she cried before he could hang up on her. Silence. "Luke? You still there?"

"Not for long."

She smiled. "So, you played baseball?"

He grunted as he rolled onto his stomach. Didn't hide his annoyance with her. "Why the hell are you looking at those tapes now anyway? Shouldn't you be asleep like the rest of the sane world?"

"It's three in the afternoon in Bangkok. They're not asleep. Are you declaring them mentally unstable, Luke?" She snickered. "Bet I'm not the first to mention _Bangkok_ at three a.m."

"_Goodnight_, Lorelai."

"Wait, I'm sorry, don't hang up."

His exhaustion was so clear. "Do you have any idea what time I have to be up?"

She shrugged. "Can't be worse than me."

"4:45. I have to be up in less than two hours."

Lorelai's eyes shifted. "Okay, a little worse than me," she admitted. "But to be fair, your sleep is only being temporarily interrupted. If I go to sleep right now, I have four hours _total_."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours."

"Well, allow me to take you out of your misery, then."

Before he could say another goodnight, Lorelai was clarifying. "Not _yours_ yours. Not across town, above the diner Luke. But high school, on-tape Luke. It's his fault. I've been up working and taking notes, that sort of thing. He's to blame for my future eye bags. You're completely innocent."

He sighed. "Cut the tapes off and go to sleep."

"You never told me you played baseball."

"Jeez. I played baseball. There. You happy? Now, go to bed."

"If I were you, that'd be the sport I'd brag about from now on. Track is lame."

"Wake me up in the middle of the night and insult me," Luke said monotonously. "Thanks."

"Well, it's true."

He lifted his head to the clock where five minutes had fallen away. "Nobody thought it was lame when I did it," he mumbled truthfully.

Lorelai smiled faintly. She wasn't sure if that was a cocky statement, but even if it was, it wasn't at all one that she could argue. She could see Track and Field being the coolest sport ever at one point just because _Butch_ was participating.

She licked her lips and exited that train of thought. "So, pitcher huh? What is it that they do? Is it short for pitcher bearer? Were you the team's waiter, offering iced tea in the stands at every game?"

"Goodnight, Lorelai. And I mean it this time."

She smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow. Try not to let this little incident affect the coffee allocation, okay?"

"Going to sleep now. You go to sleep, too," he said gruffly.

Then, there was a dial tone. Lorelai ended the call on her end and rested the phone on her thigh. She leaned back on the cushions and decided to watch just five more minutes of tape. Maybe Paul would hurry up, declare a winner to the stupid push-up contest, and go find the true star of the team for another one-on-one.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"I talked to Sookie today."

"Your best friend and business partner who you see every day? I'll alert the press."

"Mind if I get to my point before snuffing me?" Lorelai requested with calm.

Luke smiled a bit. "Sorry. Continue." He jutted his chin to the lobby of the diner as he grabbed two plates from the window. Lorelai took that as her cue to either wait for his return or to talk louder. She chose the latter.

"I was feeling a little curious, and I'll admit a little nosy too…"

"About what exactly?"

"Why, you in high school, of course!"

"Already not liking where this is headed."

She chuckled and swiveled on her stool as he came back around the counter. "Wanna know what I learned?"

"Probably not. I wasn't Sookie's favorite person in high school."

"She told me that you were Jake Ryan. Sixteen Candles," she clarified before his confusion could come. "Minus the convertible, of course. We all know you were the skateboarding Trekkie," she waved off.

"That was _junior_ high!" he defended.

"Reps start early, my friend. I'll always be the Darcy Bobrucz of Hartford private school. I've made my peace with it; you should too. _Anyway_…" Luke rolled his eyes. "I've been thinking that maybe I could shift gears with this project a little bit."

He shook his head tiredly as he worked a towel across the counter. "Shift how? I don't see how it could get much better," he replied in sarcasm.

"Of course it could. At least in _my_ opinion."

Luke regarded her. "In your opinion?" She nodded excitedly. "_Definitely_ don't like where this is headed," he determined.

She took a satisfying drink of her coffee and shared with him her ideas of making his segment of the reel less about sports and more about his affect on the female population of the town. _Hottie of the Hollow_ was the title suggested. Luke watched her, listened to the animation of her voice, and was grateful when it became obvious the whole thing was fabricated. Made only to get a reaction. He was immediately proud of himself for being too confused to produce whatever embarrassment she sought to invoke. With him staring vacantly, she broke into a silly grin that left her looking almost bashful. She broke much more easily than she normally did, he noted. She usually stuck with her contrivance even after victory had been claimed.

She took another sip of coffee and made a final attempt to prove her plan's authenticity. "Think Taylor will go for it?"

He looked away when he saw her growing uncomfortable. "No way." He moved down the counter. "Almost makes it tempting in that respect," he added.

She smiled.

Luke walked over near the coffee machine again. "So, you're going to stick with the original embarrass-the-hell-outta-Luke plan instead of coming up with your own, then right?" he asked.

"Yeah, why not?" was her breezy reply.

Luke smiled, then. He grabbed the pot and brought it to her mug. "So, how's it going with the tapes? Still bored out of your mind?"

She threw her head back and embellished her misery. "Oh, you have no idea! All those young, shirtless athletic guys splattered all over my TV screen! It's downright hell!"

"Sounds it."

She chuckled. "It's not so bad," she said truthfully, as she met his gaze. "I'm not horrible for looking, am I? Because technically, these guys are my age and even older. So, under the circumstances, it's okay that I'm like _ogling_ teenage flesh, right?"

Luke showed just a piece of his smile before turning away with the pot. "No, sorry. Still pathetic."

"Really?" she asked in disappointment.

He faced her. "Remember any of the names? Anyone stood out?"

She thought of him instantly. Of course, _Luke_ stood out. He was the reason she was viewing the tapes. She didn't take time to reflect how he was the only one who had earned her attention. But after thinking of a name that came from Luke's lips about 3 times in the tape viewed the night before, she volunteered, "Paul." She nodded at her choice. From what she'd seen, he wasn't someone she'd kick out of bed. "Paul was a hunka, hunka burnin' love," she offered.

He smirked that time. "Paul Foster?"

She shrugged. "Didn't get a chance to have a formal introduction, sorry."

"Paul Foster is married with five kids, lives in Litchfield with his third wife, weighs close to 300 pounds, and last I heard he had a sexual assault case pending."

Lorelai was quiet for a long moment. "Um…dreamy."

Luke laughed. He laughed and Lorelai saw the picture that had unfrozen itself from her television less than 12 hours ago. He appeared self-conscious and stopped abruptly, lowered his head a little from her focused eyes, and cleared his throat. The smile lingered on his lips as he looked at her once again. "Um, unless you can lust after that image, then it's probably not okay to lust after the teenage one," he ended.

She frowned. "All of them can't be that bad off."

"Well, feel free to give me another name and I'll let you in on what I know." He smirked. "I'll try not to trample your fantasies too bad."

Lorelai took a drink of her coffee and then thought of the names she had come to know by watching the races. "Joshua Long."

Luke poured coffee in a neighboring mug. "Uh…I believe Josh is still trolling the high school for young ladies to befriend. But he's still single. Want me to get his number for you?"

"Tempting. Tucker Palmer?"

He nodded approvingly. "He was a good guy. Joined the army right out of high school, though. Heard he was living overseas somewhere."

"How about…um, Oliver?"

"Mason?" She nodded. He smiled. "Traveling circus."

Lorelai cocked her head. "Now, you're just making stuff up!" she accused.

Luke shrugged. "Afraid not. Gotta wait until he rolls back through to get his information for you. Can you wait?"

She smiled fully and shook her head at him. "Damn, who in your graduating class isn't a freak?"

He stifled a chuckle. Smiled a half-smile instead. "Sorry, guess we're all pretty freakish."

"With the exception of you, at least." He met her eyes then. She smiled while running the words back through her head. She found nothing wrong with them. So she relaxed with that small amount of eye contact. Any friend would have said the same thing, even if it weren't true. It just so happened that in his case, it most certainly was. "You haven't changed much."

He blinked his eyes away from her and busied his hands with the napkin dispensers. "Yeah, I suppose."

She heard her own voice telling her to shut up. At that moment, it screamed for her to do just that. She wasn't on trial, wasn't in a hole she had to dig her way out of….and yet, she talked. Damn near with abandon. "But you were the prettiest one of all, so it's very unlikely that all that prettiness would just vanish like Hollywood pounds." She fluttered her lashes coquettishly. Her words were real, but she had practice in presentation. Practice that served as butter to help ease her foot from her mouth when it needed to be done.

Luke looked up and around nervously. He didn't know exactly how to respond to her. Was being called pretty a damn _compliment_? And if so, when exactly did she start giving him those types of compliments? Looking at her, he felt tension leave his body. She was teasing him again. She had to be.

"Does Carrie Duncan still live in Stars Hollow?" she asked him.

Luke reared back at the question. "How do you know her?"

"She was mentioned on one of the tapes."

He lifted his brows in consideration. "Uh, no. Litchfield," he responded. He saw her on occasion. Avoided her roaming hands on occasion. Ignored her raunchy, lustful words that she whispered in his ear if ever he slipped up and got too close to her. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." She watched a new customer settle in beside her. "Do you still see her? Do you two talk?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, I don't talk to _Crazy_ Carrie," he answered. "She's a nutcase who has no understanding of the word no." He stopped short of calling her a nymphomaniac in a room full of paying customers. "If she was a guy, she'd be rotting in prison somewhere, I just know it."

Lorelai's eyes fell to his chest. She pictured a hot blonde trying to seduce the golden boy. The image was not a pretty one. Made her want to shake her head until that image disappeared. But when she ordered it away, all that disappeared was the hot blonde. The golden boy remained. Smiling that familiar smile of his.

"You look about as coo-coo as she is when you sit there smiling to yourself for no reason. Just thought I'd share that with you," Luke confided without apology.

She drew back on her smile. Rolled her eyes and returned attention to her mug. "Thanks for the enlightenment."

"Plenty more where that came from."

She looked up. "More coffee?"

"You've had two mugs."

She quirked a smile while watching him closely. "So, more coffee?"

"Sorry, I thought I was being clear back there. That was a no."

"Did you date Rachel all throughout high school?"

His face bunched up in the most quizzical way. "How the hell did you jump from coffee to that?"

"Must have been hard to stay grounded and faithful with so many girls offering themselves up as Butch's love slave."

Luke took an inconspicuous scan of his surroundings, hoping no one was hearing her crazy words. He made a grab for the pot and filled her mug up hastily. "Here. Coffee. You happy?"

She grinned. "I thought you said no more."

"I did." He set the pot down and turned focus on his writing pad. "I changed my mind."

Lorelai placed her hands around the mug and stole warmth. "Did you have friends in high school that you just got loose with? Just had wild, unsanctioned fun with?"

"Lorelai," he began without the tone of indulgence, "I gave you coffee. Shouldn't you be drinking it quietly?"

"Is that what you thought would happen by giving me this?" She smirked. "Has it ever?" Luke's expression changed to something akin to both agreement and defeat. She smiled at that. "Does it make you uncomfortable when I talk about you in high school?"

"No. Just not my favorite subject."

"Why?"

"Look." He looked up at her. Saw her blink those big, beautiful, blue eyes like she was looking at the world for the first time. He ignored it. "I think I'm being a pretty good sport on this whole Luke mania fiasco. If you want to sit in front of the television and waste every piece of free time you have, then that's your business. But all these personal questions? Not gonna fly. Understand?"

After a moment of consideration, she answered, "Not really."

He rolled his eyes back to his work. "Well, I think you see what I'm getting at."

She nodded solemnly. "I do."

"Good."

"And I'm sorry," she added quickly.

He smiled a little while not looking at her. But he could feel those dangerous eyes of hers on him, so he was sure she'd catch his mild and remissive gesture. "Don't sweat it."

She sipped, placed her mug down and looked around at the social environment for a brief moment. "Luke?"

"Yeah?" His tone was back to jaunty. As jaunty as it ever got anyway.

"Carrie Duncan. Was she a blonde or a brunette?"

His eyes went to her. "What?"

She sat up in excitement. "Ooh, do you have a yearbook? That would help!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" His face fell into annoyance. "Is this you being personal again?"

She waved him off. "Of course not. I got the message loud and clear before." She smiled through that, then dropped that smile as she got back to the business end of her questioning. "Did you think she was as pretty as all of your buddies did? Or the better question should be, was _Rachel_ threatened by her?" She commended herself on that much better approach. That would definitely tell her what she needed to know.

She just really needed an idea how Carrie looked.

Luke seemed to mellow with knowledge that no matter how forthright he was with Lorelai on a subject, it rarely deterred her. "Why all the sudden fascination?" he asked, impervious.

"Well…" She shrugged carelessly. "I'm spontaneous and fascinating. Makes for all kinds of neat onsets."

Luke served food, poured coffee, and was in the middle of handling a payment before he spoke back to her. "Carrie was…Carrie. Definitely not worth a whole conversation topic," he assured. He closed the drawer. "Barely worth a piece of one, for that matter."

"Guess gallantry really is a thing of the past."

He rolled his eyes but still took offense. "She wasn't an ordinary dame. Believe me."

"This isn't coming from a guy who used her up, spit her out, and only _then_ had the mind to think of her as a harlot, is it?"

That stopped him cold. "I never called her that," he declared. His eyes flashed to a couple of nearby customers who didn't seem to care that a conversation was taking place in their vicinity at all. He took a breath and returned eyes to Lorelai. "And I didn't use her or anybody else for anything," he made plain.

She smiled. "In high school, I was a bit of a…uh, revisionist."

"Revisionist?"

"Yeah, I wasn't one to conform very well, I guess."

Luke smiled. "So, you were Jess the original. Got it."

She lost her smile, narrowed her eyes. "Nothing like Jess. Absolutely _nothing like Jess_. Do not put me in a category with him ever again," she ordered with a finger pointed at him. No matter how unruly she'd been, she had never been a disrespectful know-it-all who blazed into the life of any mother's Rory only to create heartache and sleepless nights.

Luke smirked as he saw that he'd hit a soft spot. "But you weren't completely _unlike_ him either," he pressed.

Lorelai held her palm out toward him as if to block his words from doing battle with her nervous system. The topic of Jess was the quickest way to fall out with Luke, and she definitely didn't want that. "Anyway, as I was saying…" She got her smile back in place. "I wasn't the most behaved kid back in my day. But I still had my enviable wit and of course my striking good looks," she ended with an over-the-top hair flip that nearly landed her on the floor.

Luke shook and lowered his head. "And I can see that any modesty you may have had didn't bother making the trip to adulthood."

Lorelai grasped her mug and shifted it back and forth on the counter while looking up at Luke. "Would you have liked me?" she asked. His eyes met her eyes. Her twitchy shifting continued, and when she blinked, she kept her eyes closed for seconds longer than was normal. Regarding him again, she clarified. "Do you think we would have been friends back then? Even with Rachel there?" Her smile spread. "I mean I know you were the goody two-shoes good-hearted jock and I was…well, cool beyond reason, but do you think you would have liked me at all?"

He placed his hands on the edge of the counter and scrutinized Lorelai's face, leaving her to feel self-conscious. "Assuming you weren't obnoxious, I'm sure I would have liked you fine."

That news seemed to both relax and please her. "Good to know."

He frowned then. "Weird question."

"No, it wasn't."

He picked up his rag. "Yes, it was," he averred. "And the fact that you felt the need to bring Rachel into it was weirder. We were friends when she showed up back here a couple years ago, weren't we?"

"That was different."

"How?"

She shrugged. "You weren't Butch."

"I wasn't _Butch_? What the hell does that mean?"

"Well, an adult is able to handle her partners' platonic relationships a lot better than some high schooler can."

"Supposedly," Luke was quick to add. He thought of how Rachel had left because she couldn't deal with his friendship with Lorelai. And they were far from high school age. He shook his head. "And what does that have to do with Butch?" he wanted to know.

"Just…saying that you, ya know, weren't in high school when I met Rachel," she answered.

Again, he studied her. She shied away momentarily and took a sip from her mug. When she looked up, Luke was still staring. She sighed and ended up saying something that wouldn't have been said if Luke wasn't looking at her like he could read her damn thoughts.

"However, if I had known Butch, the last thing that would've been on my mind is a platonic relationship, if you get my drift." She batted her eyelashes like her words weren't genuine.

He never took his eyes from her. The flirtatious look he saw was processed and tossed away like waste. He hid building animosity that only arose from a bruised ego. "Good thing you didn't know Butch then. Might've created quite the situation for him." His tone was dry. Too close to his normal quality for her to pick up how insulted he was right then. When she suddenly flashed one of her full-fledged grins that honestly needed to come with some sort of warning label on it, he knew it was much closer than he thought.

She honestly believed that he was okay with her words. She spoke as if Butch was a buddy of his. Someone who he could pass the message along to. Was she _trying_ to be cruel?

Luke turned and walked away without apology. No parting phrases.

Lorelai watched him for a second. "Hey, Luke?"

He rounded the counter. "Working."

She turned a bit. "I can see that. But we were kind of talking. Um…"

He took his pad out and ambushed a couple that had just taken a seat. He appeared to be the perfect server, though his only intention was to not be in Lorelai's vicinity. "What'll it be?" he asked grouchily.

The man and woman looked caught off guard, which they were. They quickly grabbed menus and scanned like their lives were on the line.

"Luke?" Lorelai called with a touch of disbelief in her voice.

He sighed and looked over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be getting back to work?" he asked as a reminder. It took a second before she lowered her eyes from him to her watch, but once she did, she groaned.

"Late. Great. You know, before you and your damn crack coffee came into my life, I used to be a responsible adult." When she stood, she dropped bills to the counter and looked back at him. Patiently, she waited for his attention. She counted to three in her head. "Luke? Luke, are you finished?"

The customers were still trying to decide. Without turning, he shook his head, no.

She looked around briefly then back at her watch. "What about now?"

"No, Lorelai."

She fisted her hair then dropped it back across her shoulders. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. "Now, then?"

He turned. "Look, you know how much your order is. You get the same thing every damn day. Just leave it and I'll get it in a second." His voice changed to something more conciliatory. "Now, go before all your reliability is shot to hell."

She smiled. "I want more coffee," she pleaded. He rolled his eyes hugely and returned to the customers. "Please?"

"I'm in the middle of something," he barked.

She walked over. Leaned around him to the table while laying her hand against the small of his back. "Hi! Do you two mind if I borrow him?" She flashed a smile. "It'll only be a second, I promise."

"No, go right ahead." The two of them were more than happy to get rid of Luke so they could think without pressure.

"Lorelai, you can't just--"

"Thanks, you guys," she replied in gratitude to the couple. She pulled on the back of his shirt. "Come on."

Luke dropped his hands at his side in frustration. He refused to turn. "Lorelai!"

"Luke, I'm running late here, remember? You have to hurry." His shirt tightened over his stomach as she stood behind him gently tugging at his clothes.

"Will you…" He pulled at his shirt causing it to snap from her fingers. "…jeez. You have to wait!" He fought to keep from turning. "Just like my other customers, you have to _wait_!" he stressed. "You can't just drag me away from something." He hated to think of the look she wore in her silence. He set his pen to write. "Besides, you've had more than enough coffee today." He suddenly feared he'd come off too mean. He didn't want to make her sad. He ignored the urge to take that pen and stab it in his own eye.

His breathing stopped when a hand slid across his arm to his fingers. He watched Lorelai take the pen from him and set it to the table in front of him.

"Excuse me," she said kindly to the couple.

That same small, delicate hand gripped his and he was too dumbstruck to put up a fight at being guided. "You can rip me a new one later on, okay? Right now I just need the biggest cup of to-go coffee that you have." She led him to the end of the counter and let his hand go as she pushed him lightly the rest of the way.

Luke gave her a look, but still made her drink. His hand tingled from her touch. His preoccupied mind was the only reason she was getting another cup of coffee.

Lorelai rested against the countertop, grateful. "Thank you. This should last me until I come back in tonight."

He gripped the cup and snapped the lid onto it. "Only thing that's gonna be worse than your death is my guilt at being the person who put you in that early grave." He slid the cup to her. "But by all means, enjoy." She smiled and drained her diner mug still half-full of the liquid. Luke shook his head as he studied her.

How pathetic was he? He couldn't even manage to stay insulted. Two minutes and one touch had made him forget all about her slight.

She set her mug down. Grabbed her things and winked at him. "See ya later, Butch."

Luke's head tilted to the side as he watched her leave.

He didn't want to read too much into that statement, but he was certainly satisfied resting on one conclusion: She was trying to make him crazy.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai sat upright on her couch. She fished her hands from the inside of her extra large T-shirt. She'd had them wrapped around her knees tightly and had finally found a major reason to abandon that comfort. She brought her sock-covered feet down to the floor and crossed her bare legs as she reached for the cordless. She dialed seven digits without having to pause and think of numbers.

Two rings and then a cranky, "_What_?"

"I cannot believe you!"

Luke flopped onto his back but kept his eyes closed. "Can't believe what?"

Lorelai rewound the tape. Paused it. Studied it. "You have a tattoo! Why didn't you tell me you had a tattoo?"

He growled. Low, aggravated…guttural. Lorelai stopped staring at the screen and flipped to an image of what he looked like laying in bed, making that sound. She smiled as that picture showed him in flannel and jeans. Boots were off and his hat was laying somewhere on the pillows.

"Why me?" he mumbled. "Lorelai it's after midnight. I--"

"Better than 3am, right?"

"I can't be woken up by you to talk about a tattoo!"

She looked at the glowing 12:43 on the VCR. "When did you get it?"

Sigh. "Lorelai."

"I just want to know when you got it. That's all," she answered in a gentle tone.

Nothing worse than being right and made to feel like an uncooperative, unreasonable jerk. "Jeez." He rubbed his eyes. Tried to focus his 12:43 brain enough to pacify a crazy woman. "I don't kn--" Long sigh. "Uh, like…16, 17. High school sometime."

She leaned toward the TV. "What is it exactly?"

Luke rubbed a hand back through his hair. If she were anyone else…

"It's just a design," he answered kindly.

"Doesn't mean anything?"

He shook his head. "No. Just a design."

She sat back. "Why have I never seen it?"

He rolled his eyes but kept his tone as pleasant as he could for her. "Why would you?"

She shrugged. "You and I are friends." She paused. "Really good friends. So, you could have at least told me. Especially since it's such a contradiction to your character."

"Is that an insult? I can't really tell with you these days."

"No, you're just a health nut. All about respect for the body. Permanent body ink doesn't fit into that incredibly well." She didn't miss a beat. "And when did you get a perceived insult from me?"

Luke put their earlier conversation in the diner out of his mind. "Never mind."

Lorelai let him have that. "Do you have anymore?"

"Tattoos?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Ever got any piercings?"

"Where would I have gotten a piercing?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe--"

"Forget I asked."

Lorelai smiled a little. "Why?"

"It's too late. I'm guessing the dirties get even dirtier in the wee hours of the morning. So again, forget it."

Lorelai brought her feet up to the couch. "I was going to say your ear," she revealed. "Thought you may have just let the hole close up once you got your sanity back."

His brows creased. "Oh." He waited for her to add to that, but she didn't. "Um…are you okay?"

Lorelai paused the tape again as it began to play. "Yeah, I'm great. Why?"

Luke's eyes, which were now wide open, scanned the ceiling thoughtfully. "You seem serious. Don't think I, uh, ever heard you serious."

She chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll make up for it tomorrow. Extra craziness just for you."

"How thoughtful."

"Remember you asked for it."

He shook his head at the thought of that. "As long as you're okay," he ended.

There was quiet on her end that made him uneasy. Still, she was the one to break it. "I don't like not knowing things about you," she said while trying to keep her voice light. "I feel like I've earned the right to know things. Not _all_ things…but a lot of things. Basic things definitely. If the town knows it, I should know it. I should know that you have a tattoo and that you played baseball and that you were this teenage heartthrob. I want to know those things." She paused. "Do you think that's weird?"

While still processing all she'd said, he answered, "No. Not really."

Lorelai nodded. "Good. I don't think it's weird either." She shrugged. "I care. Of _course_ I care, you know? So, I just want to be in the loop."

Silence gave him his cue to speak. "Yeah, of course. Makes sense."

She smiled. "And you can be in the loop too. Two way street."

"Okay. Thanks."

Her eyes went to rest on the time. "I'm sorry about calling you so late."

He smiled. "I bet."

"No, I really am. Thanks for answering, though."

"No problem."

"And talking."

"You're welcome."

"And not flipping out on me."

"Anytime."

"I mean it, Luke. Thanks."

"Lorelai…if there's an ounce of patience left in me, you'll be the one to get it. That, I can guarantee you."

Lorelai smiled, bit her lip. She gave those words the moment of silence they deserved. "I'll let you get back to sleep now."

He smirked. "Now that I'm awake, you're ready to let me sleep?"

"Gotta love irony."

"I find it to be a pain in the ass, actually."

Lorelai looked down. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"About?"

"High school."

He sighed. "Why not? Seems to be the number one topic choice nowadays."

"Was Rachel your first?" She slapped her forehead. "First _girlfriend_, I mean!" she added instantly.

Luke was slow to answer. He went back and forth on whether he should allow her to dig her way out of that one. "Uh, yeah. Technically. Why?"

Lorelai flushed as her curiosity got the best of her. "And that's an answer to the second question, right? Well, my _intended_ question. Because I only had one question total."

He fought a smile. Was Lorelai Gilmore actually flustered?

"It's an answer to the girlfriend question. I wouldn't answer the other one," he assured.

"I-I wouldn't expect you to."

The smile broke through. "Why the question?" he asked again.

Lorelai dropped her head to the back of the couch and attempted to regain a stable mind. "Well, you know. Girl sitting here watching the decade of the mullet and contemplating the appeal of the Jordache jean phenomenon...her mind may wander a bit."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And Butch just so happened to be in my wandering path. He's a fairly persistent mind hog, fyi."

"I guess he is," he replied, suddenly unenthusiastic.

She lifted her head and squinted inquisitively. "You sound glum all of a sudden."

The desire to disconnect was so strong. She may as well have transformed into Taylor Doose. "I'm tired. Ready to go back to sleep now."

"Been counting sheep these past few seconds?"

"No."

"Snorted a line of Ambien?"

"No."

She smiled, though her feelings were quickly on their way to bruiseville. She changed the subject a little. "Um…I'm getting some good things on the tapes, Luke. Lots of things they can use to paint you as a legend. You proud?"

"Paint me as a legend?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Paint _me_ as a legend?" he asked in emphasis. "Or paint _Butch_ as a legend?"

"Er…well, Tyler Durden, it wouldn't really take that much more paint since you're one in the same," she joked confusedly.

"Oh, so that _is_ something you know?"

"Yes. I do know that," she answered, all humor gone. "Why are you upset with me?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not."

"Well, you just did a pretty good impression of the pissed off comrade."

"I just want you to understand that I, _Luke_, am the same person in those tapes. The exact same person."

"Got it. The businessman formerly known as--"

"I'm serious."

She chuckled. "Why do you think I need you to tell me this?"

"It seems necessary."

"Obviously." She waited for him to speak, but he didn't. "Okay…now that that's cleared up, are you my friend again?"

"Never stopped being that."

She got frustrated. "I can't have you getting angry with me while I'm in the dark on why you're even angry. That's not fair, Luke."

"I wasn't angry!"

"You were," she refuted.

"I was annoyed. There's a difference."

"Oh, wonderful. And much more pacifying. I don't _anger_ you unknowingly; I just annoy the hell out of you." She pointed at the phone. "And stop mumbling under your breath like I'm one tick short of Gummo!"

He closed his mouth, twisted his lips. "You don't annoy me."

"You just said I did!" She looked at the REWIND button on the remote. "Ugh, if only this thing worked on diner men with selective memories."

He twisted his face in an expression that asked her what the hell she was talking about. But he figured she knew of the confusion she caused him with 95 percent of the stuff she said, so he moved past it. "You know, you should really think about the things you say before you say them," he advised. "May keep you from saying things you have to go back on later."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know your whole verbal pro thing is dependent upon you talking out of your ass, but just take the advice into consideration."

"Great. Continue on with the vague admonishments. A lot of good that'll do."

"Just forget it."

She scoffed. "Oh, _now_, forget it? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"My god. I can't believe you had the nerve to call me a piece of work, or so much work or however you put it. Because _you_, my friend, are the Petronas Towers of work! You're all of Champs Elysees! You're the mothership in Independence Day! You're a chain gang where all the other men have come down with the flu! You drive me crazy! You make me wanna take a trip to Rush Limbaugh's medicine cabinet just for some relief at what I go through with you!"

Luke was quiet for a moment. He listened to her breathing slow as she calmed down. "Wow. You really _meant_ that, didn't you?" he asked quietly.

Lorelai sighed, put her hair behind her ears. "Of course I didn't mean it."

He couldn't resist saying, "Which brings me back to my initial comment."

"Luke."

He smiled. "Relax. Don't flip out on me again."

She shook her head. "Why do you do this? Why can't you just say whatever it is you want to say instead of bringing my entire character on trial? Am I a bad person to you? You think I play games?"

"No…"

"No?"

Luke looked out of his window. "I know you don't do it on purpose."

Lorelai paused for a moment. "I don't play games with you, Luke."

"I didn't say it was with me," he defended.

"But that's how you meant it, isn't it?"

Luke covered his eyes. "Look, this is getting…" He stopped. "It's pretty late, so why don't we just say goodnight," he suggested.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "If that's what you want to do."

"Well, it _is_ late."

"Okay."

"What, you don't think it's late?" he asked defensively.

"Yeah. Sure. It's late. You have a good night."

"Lorelai?"

She started to just hang the phone up, as was her intention. Pretend she didn't hear him say her name. "Yes?" He scrambled for something to say. He'd called her name only because it was obvious their conversation was going to end on a bad note…at least on her end. Many seconds passed in quiet. "Yes?" she said again, softer.

"Um…a-are you going to sleep?"

"That's what you wanted to ask me?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully.

She ran her fingers over the buttons on the remote. "Not yet," she answered peaceably.

He nodded. "Because of the tapes?"

"Yeah. I still have one more to get through."

Luke smoothed his T-shirt over his stomach nervously. "Finding some good stuff?"

"Mmhm. Lots." She paused. "I have an easy subject."

"You think so?"

"Know."

Pause. "No?"

She laughed. "Know. K-n-o-w. I know so."

"Oh." He smiled a little. "Thanks."

"I take it it's not late anymore."

He chuckled. "Still late."

"Really?" she asked, disappointed.

"But it's okay for now."

"Thanks for the bone, Turner."

"Anytime, Hooch."

"Oh, cool, you got one! Congrats."

"It was bound to happen sometime."

She smiled. "On the tape I'm watching, it looks like you guys are gearing up for a pep rally. Do you remember those?"

"Yeah, a few. Unfortunately."

"You'd rather remember all of them?"

"I'd rather remember none of them."

Lorelai laughed. "Cynical even at one in the morning. I love it."

"Yeah, well, you're strange. That's obvious."

"Would I be more normal if I found your personality repulsive?"

"Maybe."

"I'll stick with strange, thanks."

He was inwardly delighted to hear the protectiveness in her tone. "I can't believe you stay up all hours of the night watching those videos. You haven't had a decent night's sleep in days."

"The less sleep I get, the more coffee I get!" she beamed.

"Is it worth it?"

"Coffee makes anything worth it. A trail of _your_ coffee could lead straight to the electric chair, and I'd still follow it."

Luke ignored the sad truth of that. "I mean are the tapes worth all the loss of sleep?"

Lorelai positioned a pillow and laid down on it. She rested on her side, facing the TV. "I wouldn't do it if it wasn't," she answered quietly.

He pushed. Hated that he pushed, but he pushed. "All business?"

She smiled. "Taylor's ideas are considered business now?"

"Let's indulge him."

"No, Luke. Not all business."

"Then, what?"

She switched ears, placing the phone between the pillow and her ear. Then, she returned both hands to the inside of the shirt and brought her legs in as well. As immediate warmth spread over her, she answered Luke with, "Real answer or the mess-with-Luke one?"

"Whichever you want to give."

She licked her lips, smiled as she considered her words. Then, spoke. "I think I have a crush on Butch."

"On Butch?" he asked casually. He felt the immediate re-emergence of dissatisfaction toward her. Again with the third fucking person.

"Thoughts?" she requested.

Luke wondered if he should bother with taking them back down the bumpy road they'd manage to stumble across. Wondered if it would even do any good. "Is that the mess-with-Luke answer?"

"What do you think?" she asked considerately. Luke's game-playing fume came back to her, and she answered again. "I mean, no. It's the real answer."

"Crush on Butch, huh?"

She grew nervous. "Just add me to the groupie list."

Luke shook his head, controlled his temper. "Well, I'm sure he'd be very happy to hear that."

"What do you mean?" Lorelai's brows came together. "And your tone is changing again," she noted.

"Listen, I'm not getting mad or annoyed or whatever. I'm not. But I am about to go, okay? I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest."

"Luke?"

She heard the dial tone a second later. She rose up and looked down at the phone quizzically. "What the hell was that about?" she asked, shocked.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The following day, Lorelai entered the diner for a quick pick-me-up. She'd gotten only a few hours of rest, but the upside was that there was only one tape to go.

She spotted Luke at the same time that he spotted her.

"Coffee to go, please?" she asked without sitting.

He frowned and turned. "Hey to you, too."

She focused on getting money from her purse. "Hey, Luke."

He poured coffee into a styrofoam cup. "I know you aren't mad," he grumbled.

"Oh, do you know that?" she asked with a quick regard of him.

"You don't have reason to be mad," he finished.

"You hung up on me!" she exclaimed, losing whatever poise she had.

Luke glared at the customers that turned eyes onto them. Each of them looked away. He set her cup down. "I didn't hang up on you. I told you goodbye."

"But you didn't give me a chance to say it back, so therefore, you hung up on me."

"Can this be anymore juvenile?"

Lorelai crossed her arms. "What was your deal anyway?"

"I didn't have a deal," he argued. "And can we not do this right here? I'm working."

"Just admit you hung up on me, and I'll leave it alone."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Lorelai."

"Just admit it!"

"Fine. I hung up without giving you a chance to say bye. Happy?"

Her eyes narrowed. "No, I'm not happy. Why'd you do it?"

"You said you'd leave it alone!"

"Excuse me." Babbette appeared beside Lorelai. She looked between them anxiously. "Is this a lover's spat?" she questioned. Silence. "Patty thinks it is, and I think it's just something headed in that direction. She was right about the Nancy Tolford, Stewart Hollingsworth split last week, and I can't think of her being two for two. What's the verdict?"

Lorelai looked from Babbette to Luke, only to see him glowering at her. She really had not intended to make a scene. She grasped her coffee cup. "Sorry," she said to Luke with sincerity. She looked at the short lady beside her. "Sorry," she said once again. "It's, um, neither, Babbette. It's none of the above," she answered.

With that, she turned and left the diner. Babbette returned to her seat, not bothering to question the man that had a clear _do not disturb_ scowl painted across his face.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

It was close to nine at night when Lorelai came back into the diner.

She approached the counter and watched as Luke dropped a saucer to the countertop with a slice of pie on it. She sat and looked from the pie to him.

He sighed. Kept his eyes low. "Peace offering?"

Lorelai got comfortable. "Is that what this is? Seems insulting. What's with the portion size?"

His eyes widened. "It's a normal sized piece."

"Exactly where the problem lies. Is this your way of telling me to kiss your rump, mister?"

He rolled his eyes. She smiled. "This is kind." She picked up the fork on the plate. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Figured it's the least I could do."

Lorelai ate a few bites. "Mind telling me what the whole thing was about?"

"It was nothing." He shrugged. "Just got a little over-sensitive. Don't worry about it."

She looked up. "At least until I do the same thing again, right? Whatever it is that I keep doing to upset you."

He ran his hand over his hat tiredly. He'd already made a resolution to not let future discussions of Butch bother him. Surely, that would work. "Finish your pie," he said to her. He pointed behind him. "If you want some dinner, let Caesar know, and he'll get it for you. My treat…for being a jerk."

"You're not a jerk." He shrugged in acknowledgement. "And why am I letting Caesar know? Why can't I let you know?"

"I'm off for the rest of the night. Caesar's closing."

"Why?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's only an hour early, Lorelai. Can't I give myself that?"

She felt selfish. "Yeah, of course. You can have a little time to yourself, definitely." She leaned on the counter. "What are you gonna do?"

"Try to catch the end of the game." He ducked in the order window and told Caesar he was on his own. Then, he regarded Lorelai again. "I'll see ya later."

She nodded, smirked. "Or talk to you _sooner_ than later."

He waved a hand and turned. "Yeah, yeah," was all he said.

She watched the curtain swing back before thoughtfully continuing with her dessert. "Caesar! Usual, please!"

"Got it, Lorelai!"

Half an hour later, Lorelai dropped her napkin to the empty plate and pushed it away. She pulled out money to cover the meal and tip and slid it under her plate, though Luke had told her it was on the house.

"I'm gone, Caesar. Have a good night!" she yelled to him.

"Okay, see ya! Get home safe!"

"Thanks, Hon. You too."

Lorelai stood, straightened her clothes, and allowed her eyes to wander over to the curtain. After only a second of deliberation, she walked over. She thought it'd be rude to leave without letting Luke know. He was the one who usually saw her out every other night.

Luke opened the door after hearing her knocks. Lorelai smiled in greeting. "Hey. I'm leaving now," she said. Her eyes casually went from his face to his exposed upper body. He wore a black muscle shirt. Black sweatpants. White tube socks.

"Okay," he said with a nod. "Thanks for letting me know." He stared at her. Her focus was on his right arm. On his tattoo. He looked down at it too. "In the flesh," he stated. "Like it?"

Her eyes moved to his. She took in his body once more with no expression. "You look like a cat burglar," she revealed with a small smile.

"Gee, thanks." He stepped away from the door. "Didn't really expect company tonight. Do you want to come in?"

Lorelai scanned the inside of the apartment from the doorway. "Um…" She looked at him. Squinted. "Are you going to get dressed?"

He looked down at himself. "What are you talking about? I'm dressed."

Her eyes dropped slowly down his body. Went back to his face. "You're not dressed, Luke," she said with a chuckle. His entire chest and arm area were _completely_ distracting. And though the dark color of the pants helped at concealment, if she looked closely—she tried her _best_ to avoid looking closely—she could make out the shape of his…

"Do you want to come in or not?"

She looked away from him in thought. "Uh, I'm pretty okay out here." She nodded with resolve.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Goodnight." She didn't back away from the doorway so he looked at her questioningly. "Something else?"

She took a breath. "Yeah."

"What's up?"

Her eyes went to his again. "I kind of wanted to talk to you in private…eventually, I mean…about our phone conversation.. A-about what I said."

He nodded with nonchalance. "About your crush," he clarified.

She straightened up, looked a bit shocked that he mentioned it so easily. "Yeah." She licked her lips. "Um…you didn't say anything about it at all, so it'd be nice to know what you think."

Luke shifted. "What I think about your crush on a high school boy? Oh, I'm thrilled," he said bitingly. So much for his resolution.

She leaned in. "What high school boy?"

"Butch. Isn't that who you're fawning over?"

"I'm not fawning!" she defended. She gave him a look like he was crazy. "And why are we having this conversation again? _You're_ Butch! What's with the identity crisis?" She looked at him critically.

Luke clenched his jaw, grasped her arm, and pulled her inside. She spun around to face him in question. He closed the door. "No need of broadcasting down the stairway," he explained. He sighed, placed his hands impatiently on his hips. "The way you talked, you referred to me as a '_him'_, like I was someone completely separate. As far I know, you like the person I was 20 damn years ago," he spewed.

"You think I like somebody on a TV screen?" she asked incredulously.

"As far as I know, you do," he said again.

She appeared defeated. "Jeez, Luke. Give me a break."

"What?"

"How often did I do it?"

"Do what?"

"How often did I use Butch's name instead of yours? Because as I recall, it was only when it would have been _way too straightforward_ to just say 'you' or 'Luke' or 'the idiot that serves my coffee every day'."

He frowned. "Idiot?"

"Well! What would you call someone who manages to overlook every other sign, only to focus on the smallest thing ever? Why didn't you just _ask_ me? Better yet, why didn't you believe what I said when you _did_ ask me?" she screeched, remembering words spoken the previous evening.

He dropped his hand from his hip and looked around. "Because!" he said with faltering anger.

"Because _why_?"

He sighed crossly. Folded his arms across his chest as he avoided eyes with her. Lorelai's attention went to the muscles in his arms that bulged outrageously. He definitely wasn't playing fair.

She dropped her eyes. "God, this is such a mess. I should've known this would happen."

He lowered his arms, looked at her with wide eyes. "What's happening? What did you see happening?"

She couldn't help but take in all she could see of him. "This. All this," she said pointedly with gestures between them. "We're standing here screaming at each other for god's sake."

He shook his head. "We're not screaming," he retorted amiably. "We're okay. It was just a misunderstanding," he said with a hint of desperation.

"I just…I didn't do this right at all. There weren't supposed to be _misunderstandings_. And you weren't supposed to be despising me while I was in the middle of falling for you. I mean, I wasn't looking for a Cinderella love story here, but that's certainly not an invitation to pack on the tragedy."

"Lorelai, come on."

"I feel like an idiot." She covered her face. "Why did I even open my big mouth?"

Luke moved closer but seemed cautious at invading her space. "Hey." He reached out and touched her hand, and Lorelai jumped and uncovered her eyes. She had no idea he had come that close. Luke took a startled step back and held up his hands innocently. "Sorry." He held contact with her for a moment, only to lose it when she looked at his chest and arms. He smiled a little. "Um, I-I don't think you have a big mouth--" He rolled his eyes. "Well, you _do_, but--"

"Watch it, mister."

He continued with amusement. "But it's good. It's…good you opened it." He stared at her until he got the eye contact back. "This is good. It's gonna be okay." She stared at him unguardedly. After a few intense seconds, Luke asked, "You believe that, right?"

"I believe this could've gone so much better," she responded.

"And I believe it was perfect just the way it was," he countered. He stepped closer and heard her breathing change. "Absolutely perfect."

Lorelai swallowed as desire washed over her. His chest was touching her chest, and his gaze was causing all kinds of butterflies to flutter in her stomach. She smiled with nerves taking over. "First kiss?"

He smiled. "First kiss."

Her eyes fell to his chest. He smelled clean. Recently showered. "You smell like a pretty boy."

"Don't call me that," he warned and made it the sexiest threat ever.

She touched his sides cautiously. "And if I do?" She slid her hands up and around, feeling the muscles of his back. Luke gripped her sides and pulled her to him, making her gasp. They stared at each other and the heat between them rose until it became unbearable. Lorelai gently urged his head down. Made his lips land on her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and soon touched her tongue to his tongue.

When they backed away, both were breathing hard. Luke took a step back. His eyes were on Lorelai's. Hers were on his, and her hands were on the bottom of his thin, sleeveless shirt as she pulled it up his body. "Okay?" she asked breathless. He nodded. She continued to pull until the shirt was on the floor at their feet. They came together again. Mouths locked, and they shared hot, lustful kisses. When they broke, it was because Lorelai dipped down. Put her mouth on his neck, collarbone, all across his chest until he moaned. She stopped, reached back, and snatched her heels from her feet.

Luke was there to pull her back. He pulled her tightly to his body and kissed her sweetly, then deeply, then downright hungrily as they made their way over to his bed. He stopped when they got there, pulled away and looked at her. "This okay?" he asked in a thick voice. She nodded and gripped his shoulders when he started pushing her skirt down her legs. When he went low and started kissing her thighs, Lorelai closed her eyes, licked her lips, and fumbled with the buttons on her top.

He came back up slowly. Licked around her navel, in her navel, then went higher. When he made it to her breasts, Lorelai was removing the blouse. It fell to the floor, and she brought her hands back around and grasped his head. Pulled him up for some more mouth to mouth. Luke removed her bra on the first try while kissing her senseless.

They fell to the bed.

Luke stopped the show, reached in his bedside drawer, and took out a condom. When his eyes went back to Lorelai, she smiled her approval and busied herself with a task she couldn't wait to get to. Immediate soft kisses landed on his arm. She gave his tattoo the attention she wasn't able to give at the door—the attention it deserved.

Luke showed patience during that. He watched her use her tongue in ways he was only able to feel while kissing her. For the first time ever, he found the arm to be an erogenous zone.

Lorelai got out of her panties, got on top of Luke, and helped him get naked too.

She took the condom from him, and got it open, only to spend a long minute stroking his bare member. He groaned, tightened. Lorelai rolled the rubber on, secured it, then went from straddling his legs to straddling his thighs.

She kissed him. Sweetly. Bare tongue action. When she pulled away, Luke pulled her back. Kept the tenderness, but stepped up the tongue action majorly. She wore a smile when they separated. "Traditional okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," he answered.

She leaned down and kissed his chest. She nipped at his skin. Moved up, pulled his bottom lip gently with her teeth, and then let up. Luke reversed their positions. Lorelai sighed and wrapped herself around him. His weight on top of her made her feel so wonderful. She whispered his name, met his mouth with hers, and started a slow tongue kiss that got more passionate the moment he pushed himself inside of her.

He held his position and kissed her long and deep as that initial feeling washed over them.

When the thrusting began, Lorelai grasped him tightly and flowed with him. She moved when he moved. Her moans filled the apartment and only encouraged Luke to work harder. They went from mild to rough trying to build up feeling. Sensation was good. So damn good. But still, it just didn't seem to be enough. For a while, they switched things up. Lorelai got on top. She made them both sweat furiously. Minutes later, they were back in missionary. Back to slow movements, deep kisses. Back to frustrated pleasure that wasn't exploding in the right ways.

They parted, and Lorelai's eyes remained closed as Luke slid in and out of her.

Her hand ran through his wet, curling hair. "Just…take it off," she whispered.

He slowed. "What?"

She opened her eyes. Saw him looking at her. She paused before saying again, "Take it off."

His eyes widened. "The…" His eyes dropped down suggestively. She nodded, yes. He'd stopped completely by then. They stared for a long moment. "Are you…on the pill?" She blinked, looked a little wistful as she shook her head.

"No," she answered quietly.

She knew the risk. Knew the irresponsibility. Knew the absurdity. Knew the downsides of impulsive actions. But what she could feel was much stronger than what she knew. This was Luke. They were here. And the connection didn't feel complete.

Luke's expression told her he knew all the things she knew. She could only hope that he felt the things she felt.

Just when she'd feared that she had ruined the moment completely, she heard Luke whisper "hold on". He pulled out of her. She scanned the ceiling, rubbed his hair affectionately, and closed her eyes when she heard the sound of a condom being pulled off.

He settled back onto her. "You ready?" he asked softly. She nodded.

When he filled her, her eyes rolled open and a gasp escaped into his ear.

Luke groaned into her neck. He started out slowly. Had her moans getting long and so sweet. She touched him everywhere. Soon, she encouraged him to go deeper. Harder. Harder. He clutched the top of the bed and delivered powerful thrusts that produced cries of bliss beneath him. Lorelai bit her lip, moaned, and even screamed when the sensation proved to be too much. "Luke…god!"

Luke bit his lip also. He slowed down enough to kiss her neck, suck her skin. The feeling below was too good, though, and he temporarily lost focus. He was soon feeling her body tightening fiercely around his plowing manhood, and he continued to give her all he had until he no longer could.

He pulled out. Found release as Lorelai's body convulsed against him. She gripped him, squirmed, worked to handle the coursing orgasm. Luke buried his face in her neck as he dealt with his. Seconds later, they were staring intimately, allowing their breathing to slow.

Lorelai's expression changed from adoration to regret as she remembered something. She frowned.

Luke responded with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I can't stay here," she revealed.

Luke was still coming down from the experience, and her sudden mention of sleeping arrangements made him have to run to catch up. "O…kay." He paused. "Why not?"

"I was going to finish watching the last tape tonight. The tape is at home," she said regretfully.

He scanned her eyes. "That's what you're thinking about right now?"

She smiled. "_No_. I was thinking about staying here with you and seeing how much sleep I could make you miss by being here in person instead of on the phone. And then I realized I can't stay here." She gave a thoughtful look. "I'd really like to finish up tonight, so I can systematize everything tomorrow, get it in, and then go over it with the organizers so they're clear on what I want done."

"Lorelai?"

"Hm?"

He could feel her breasts press into him with every breath she took as he lay on top of her. He narrowed his eyes. "We just had sex."

She grinned. "I _know_."

His eyes narrowed more. "We just had sex, and you're talking about town business," he pointed out. His raised eyebrows told her to explain herself.

She seemed to ignore his comment as she gently rubbed over the hairs of one brow with her thumb. "I'd like you to come with me."

"Where?"

"To my house," she answered incredulously.

Luke rolled his eyes and eased off of her. "Jeez."

She sat up and leaned back on her elbows as she looked over at him. "Well, we can't spend the night apart. This isn't Belle de Jour."

"I don't want to spend the night apart!" he defended. "I want to spend it with you!"

She laid flat on her back and regarded him softly. "I know. I want to spend it with you too. So, come with me."

He looked up in annoyance. "I have to be up early. I don't have time to sit and watch home movies all night."

"No one's asking you to. I just want you there," she added quietly. "You can go straight to sleep when we get there if you'd like." She watched his features relax into simple irritability after a few seconds. That was spirit fingers in the language of Luke. Lorelai smiled. "Thank you." She moved in and kissed his cheek softly. Trailed those light kisses down the side of his neck and indulged.

Luke swallowed, showed weakness, but still stood his ground. "I'm not gonna watch those tapes with you, so if this is some kind of plan to--"

She smiled against him. "It's not."

He turned his head, making her back away. "I'm serious."

"Okay." She blinked innocently. Luke turned away. Lorelai pulled him back and made his lips crash into hers. An unexpected deepness made it longer and more gratifying than intended. They broke. Lorelai leaned her forehead against his and breathed in his breath. "You…are easily the best kisser I've ever…"

Luke smiled as her words faded out. He rubbed across her bare back tenderly. "I'm already going, you know. You don't have to start with the manipulation." She laughed and he kissed her cheek and turned away from that moment. With a heavy sigh, he reclaimed his grouchiness and climbed from the bed. "Let's just get this over with."

Lorelai's eyes dropped to his butt before she rolled off her side with a pleasure-filled grin. "Right behind you, Babe."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai gently spread her fingers over Luke's. She lifted his pinky and watched as it fell back to her tank top-covered stomach. She moved her eyes back to the television. "Are you asleep?" she whispered.

No answer.

Luke was on her sofa on his back. One foot on the sofa, the other on the floor. His head lay on the armrest. Lorelai was on her back as well. Between his spread legs with her back against his lower abdomen and waist area. He wore a thermal top that he hadn't taken off after making the trip to her house. His bottoms were the same black pants he'd worn earlier. Lorelai wore a tank top and some solid blue pajama bottoms.

They'd been at her house for an hour.

When Luke didn't answer her, Lorelai knew he'd finally drifted off to sleep.

She took his hand from her stomach and placed it on his leg carefully as she slipped away from his warmth. She stood quickly and turned to make sure he hadn't woken up. He groaned, turned on his side, but remained unconscious. Lorelai pulled down the throw from the back of the couch and covered him with it.

After placing a feather kiss on his forehead, she lowered herself to the floor, crossed her legs in front of the coffee table, and focused on the screen.

A gorgeous blue-eyed boy walked to the starting line and took his mark.

Lorelai smiled back at Luke. "Such a pretty boy," she muttered amusedly.

Luke's breath hitched in his sleep.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai came into the diner and hurried toward the counter. Luke was there handing someone a to-go food order.

She grasped the end of the counter and leaned in a little. "Hey," she said softly.

He wore a smitten smile that he'd never admit to. "Hey." His eyes dropped instantly to her V-neck and cleavage, as every chemical in his body told him it was okay to do that now. Just as quickly, he looked away and back to the customer. But not before taking note of Lorelai's happy smile. "Five sixty-one," he told the patron. He received a twenty.

Lorelai tapped her nails impatiently as she waited for him to finish up. She didn't take her eyes off of him except to scan the area for those who might notice her stare, which she knew, showed her more-than-chummy intentions. No one knew about the night before. They didn't plan to hide anything, but they certainly weren't going to serve their personal business on a silver platter to the town.

Luke snapped the cash drawer shut, and Lorelai moved down to take the place of the departing customer.

"Guess what."

He almost grinned right along with her but caught himself in time. "What?" he asked.

"I convinced Taylor to show a preview of the high school's reel at next Thursday's meeting." Any trace of happiness slid from his face. Lorelai grinned more. "Just part of it, though. You know which part?"

He sighed. "I can just about guess," he answered dully.

She clasped her hands. "You're going to love it, Luke. It's going to be incredible." She took an elated sigh. "You're going to be there, right?"

"Not even in spirit."

She waved her hand, too happy to really respect his decision. "You'll be there," she said easily. "I don't care what I have to do to make it happen."

"Oh?" he challenged.

She stared into his eyes. Reminded him of the line they'd hurdled across the night before. And suddenly Luke remembered her bargaining tools were no longer limited to pleas and pitiful lip pouts. That dawning was clear in his eyes. Lorelai smiled with amusement as she watched him.

Luke turned, suddenly needing his footing back. "Coffee?"

Lorelai leaned forward again. "Sure. But…" She waited until she got his attention, "Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?"

He glanced around the diner. It wasn't too bad off. "Yeah," he said. Lorelai smiled and pointed over to the area designated only for employees and tenants. Waited for Luke's "okay" before she headed over. Luke told Caesar to watch the diner, and then he followed her into the storage room where she'd gone.

He closed the door behind himself, and Lorelai smiled from several feet away.

"Hey. What's going on?" Luke asked as he took a better survey of her ensemble and the way it looked on her. He really couldn't help himself.

She walked over. "First off, better hello."

"What?"

She pulled on his shirt and got him down to her height. Kissed him softly. Urged his lips apart, and he and she ended up going french for the better part of a minute. They separated and Lorelai's hands were resting on the sides of his stomach. Luke's were in her hair.

They both blinked their eyes open and focused.

"You're right. Way better hello," Luke stated huskily.

She smiled. "I have to remember not to kiss you like that. Not at work, not in public." They scanned features. "It makes me want to do things. Things with a high explicit rating."

Luke swallowed. "Things we _can't_ do here," he added purposefully.

She nodded. "I know. That's why I have to log it into memory."

"Okay. Do that." Again, he swallowed. "I'll try to remember that too."

One hand moved from his side and to the tiny lock of hair sticking from beneath his ball cap. She smoothed it down with her fingers. "Hey, um, about last night…" she whispered.

"What about it?" he asked softly.

She walked closer, as if her words would carry. Her body ended up pressing against him. She returned her hand to his side and stared up at him. "We didn't get a chance to talk, but I feel like you should know that…what I did, what I…e-encouraged you to do…" She spoke with sincerity, "…it's not something that I normally do." She shook her head. "It's not something that I've ever done, actually."

Luke rubbed her arm. Without a word, he told her it was okay. Hoped that she understood the profession wasn't necessary.

"I just really needed to tell you that," she said. She got more serious. "It's _every time_ with me, Luke. _Every time,_ no exceptions. Beginning to end. So, please don't think--"

"I _don't_," he interrupted.

She relaxed when she saw how firm he was on his belief in her. Dropped her eyes from his. "It's just that it's _you_…you know?"

He smiled. Touched her cheek and made her shy gaze return to him. "Yeah. I know." He paused. "And if you recall, I didn't put up much of a fight, so the way I see it, I owe you a little assurance too."

She smiled. "No, you don't."

"You sure? Because it wouldn't be that hard. I could probably just slap a big 'ditto' on everything you just said."

Lorelai wrapped her arms around his stomach and took a breath. "Look, assuming everything turns out okay after last night…"

Luke felt both terrified and excited at the idea of her being pregnant with his kid. He swallowed. Kissed her forehead. "It'll be okay. Either way," he promised.

That made her smile. She hugged him tighter. "But assuming the element of surprise decides to lay low on this one, I'll be going on the pill. _Immediately_," she stressed. Luke smiled. "Deal?" she asked.

He nodded, felt a little weird at getting a vote on something that'd affect her body and not his. But after the previous night, it was easy to see that they needed a new plan. "Deal," he agreed.

Lorelai rubbed his back caressingly. "Anything you want to add?"

He sighed. "No." His eyes dropped down her body briefly. "Except that you…look good today. Beautiful."

Lorelai smiled. "I look beautiful?" she asked, softly repeating the word he'd used.

"Yeah. You could come in here in a paper sack, and you could still make my heart skip a beat." He looked away. Wondered briefly what had possessed him to say that out loud. "But I'm sure you know that," he added lamely.

She shook her head while staring at him with such adoration. "No. I didn't know that," she answered honestly. She finally pulled her body away from his when she realized that their proximity wasn't the best idea. She explained her sudden separation. "Though I should probably warn you that those words are almost as dangerous as that kiss you laid on me before."

His lips turned up a little. "We've been in here a while. We should probably get back."

Lorelai looked around him to the entrance. "I really wouldn't be surprised if the entire crowd is pressed up against that door at this very moment."

"For their sake, they better not be," Luke warned.

She took his hand in hers. "Calm down. Put the menace away, Mickey." She raised her hand to signify herself. "Mallory, here, isn't feeling very murderous today, and you may not be able to fulfill that threat alone."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's go."

"Kay." Lorelai moved in and kissed his lips once more. Lingered there, and then stepped back. "I'll be a happy girl when I'm able to do that anywhere."

He squeezed her hand, then they both let go. "You can," he said as they moved toward the entryway.

She smiled. "Not without drawing a swarm bigger than the blue door in Notting Hill did."

"Whatever that means."

"Not that I care about that at all. Bring on the swarm."

"Speak for yourself."

She smiled. "The swarm is made up of our friends and neighbors, Luke."

"All I know is that swarm or not even pieces of that swarm better be pressed up against this damn door." He grasped the knob and Lorelai's snickers stopped short in anticipation as he opened the door. She prepared herself for anything. And all she heard was normal conversation and laughter. Far away from the storage room door.

She looked up at Luke with a pout. "They don't care about our strange and possible non-platonic rendezvous."

"It wasn't a rendezvous," he deadpanned.

"Could've been."

"But it wasn't. I give them credit for minding their own business for once."

Lorelai trudged out ahead of him and into public view. She confirmed with her eyes what she already knew. No one paid them any mind. Luke looked down at her dragging feet. "Can't believe you're disappointed over this."

"Well, it's kind of disappointing."

He sighed. He was about to round the counter, but instead chose to help her move along. He placed his hand on the small of her back, then on the bottom of her waist as he pushed her toward the stools. Lorelai looked over her shoulder at him and smiled confusedly but didn't stop him. His hand on her hip—that intimate touch —drew attention, first from Babbette, then from Patty. Luke urged her along until she hopped onto a stool. Then he returned behind the counter.

Lorelai leaned forward and spoke in a loud whisper. "What was that?"

He got a mug for her, along with the coffee pot. "You wanted a swarm…" His eyes rose behind her. He shook his head and finished pouring the coffee. "I got you a swarm," he finished. He added some milk to her coffee, and sat it down in front of her just as Patty and Babbette made it up behind her.

Lorelai looked ambushed as both ladies began to drill her. Just as Patty looked up at Luke to pull him into the line of fire, his yell cut her short. "Caesar!"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Come cover the front for me. I'll work the grill for a while."

"Okay. Be right out."

Luke couldn't help but smile at Lorelai's look of disbelief. "I'll be in the back if you need me." He walked away, leaving her alone. Lorelai put on a rather uncomfortable smile for the women. She opened her mouth, tried to get a word in edgewise but between their loud assumptions and requests for details, the effort drained away.

With a defeated groan, she lowered her head to the counter and waited for Babbette and Patty to run out of fuel. Thankful that she had a fresh cup of coffee to get her through that DMV-type wait time, she began to think of her rapidly growing dislike of swarms.

She was sure Luke intended for that to happen. She imagined him smiling that perfect smile of his as he worked in the kitchen. Just reveling in her predicament. Damn him.

Only another thirty seconds would pass before she'd lift up her head and announce that she and Luke were dating. Shock factor was always nifty. She'd come from nowhere like Julia Roberts did in Something to Talk About when she stood and inquired about her husband's affairs at a town gathering. Lorelai would smile without intimidation even while knowing the term 'dating' was nowhere near accurate enough for her new relationship. She'd satisfy the gossip mill's finest with vague responses and be done with phase 1 of the Luke and Lorelai union.

And then she'd drag Luke from the kitchen and pinch his ass in front of everyone. Only to make him pay for leaving her alone.

That's what she would follow through with two seconds after it popped into her head. With ten seconds left, she gradually sat up and sighed. Massaged her temples. She reached for her mug to take a sip of coffee, and an unexpected break in conversation gave her the cue she didn't know she'd been itching for.

What would be the biggest piece of town gossip for weeks to come spilled from Lorelai's lips and silenced those around her.

She held her breath and waited. And then the outpour came. Loving as ever, curious as ever, and joyous enough to point out the significance. Lorelai sighed graciously and went about answering them all in ways that wouldn't cause the scruffy, sexy man in the kitchen to have a heart attack. He poked his head through the order window. Lorelai winked and kept talking as she stared at him. Couldn't believe that he _still_ chose to remain in the kitchen. She smiled wickedly and looked away. There was no doubt about it. His ass was definitely hers.

**-The End-**

I have a few ideas right now, so don't let my recent absence make you think I'm going away for good just yet. I hope to get the first of those out by March. That's a good goal. It gives me three weeks. I'll do the best I can since it's been a while. I haven't had a chance to say this to you all yet, so please accept my later-than-ever "Happy 2010"!!!

Hit the review button and let me know what you think of the story, please! If the review isn't pleasant, do me a solid and just wait until tomorrow to submit lol. Thanks.


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